


American Heroes

by catchip2



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, F/M, First Kiss, Friendship, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Internalized Homophobia, Jealousy, M/M, Protective Jonathan Byers, Slow Burn, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2020-06-30 07:24:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 55,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catchip2/pseuds/catchip2
Summary: Will stays with Dustin in the field a little longer and hears the Russian transmission.





	1. Suzie

“Well, guess it's just you and me, Byers,” Dustin says as he and Will watch Lucas and Max walk off through the field.

Will glances at his watch, realizing how late it is. He should really get home; his mom will be worried sick. But one look at Dustin's disappointed face makes him doubtful, so he figures what's the harm in staying a couple more minutes?

“Are you sure Cerebro even works?” Will asks as he takes a seat on the ground, Dustin joining him.

Dustin huffs. “Yes, I'm sure Cerebro works! Suzie's probably just busy or something. I'll bet she's having dinner.”

Will checks the time again, thinking he should get going. “It's a bit late for dinner.”

“Some people eat dinner late! Even if-” Dustin whips his head around to look at his radio. A crackling voice eminates from it. Dustin dodges forward, grabs the radio, and says, “Hello? Suzie, Suzie, is that you? It's Dustin!”

Will stares at the radio, curious to hear what this Suzie girl is like. But as the chatter from the radio clears, it's not a girl's voice he hears but a man's, and it's not English but what sounds like Russian. His and Dustin's wide eyes meet and they both raise their eyebrows.


	2. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Dustin go home.

“This is insane!” Dustin is shaking his head in disbelief as he and Will walk down the hill. “Do you know what this means? We'll be American heroes!”

Will laughs at Dustin's excitement. “Yeah, but how exactly? Whatever that guy was saying might not even be important.”

“We won't know until we find out what he said! We have to translate it.” Glancing at his watch again, Will nods. “Okay, but it's late and I have to get home. What about we regroup tomorrow with the rest of the party? We can translate it then.”

“Alright, Byers. Be up early tomorrow then.”

“Will do.” They stop where they have to part ways. Will turns to Dustin. “Welcome home, by the way.”

Dustin grins from ear to ear. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”


	3. Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will gets home late, and Joyce is worried.

When Will gets home, he's met with the worried face of his mother. She hops up from the couch when he comes through the door. “Will, thank God! I was worried sick!” She gives him a tight hug.

“Sorry, Mom. I was with Dustin setting up his ham radio.” Joyce still looks worried. Will bites his lip. “Mom, you really shouldn't worry about me all the time. I'm fine.” He feels a pang of guilt when he remembers the cold feeling he got at the movies the day before and at the field today after Mike and El left, but he dismisses it.

Joyce sighs, ruffling Will's hair. “I know, sweetie. It's just hard sometimes. After everything that's happened, I just-”

“I know. I'll try to call you the next time I'm coming home late.”

Joyce gives her son a smile before saying goodnight and kissing his forehead.

While Will is getting ready for bed, he thinks back to earlier in the day when he watched Mike and El leave the rest of them in the field, jealousy boiling up inside him. Will had hoped that, just once, Mike would stay with them instead of running off with El, especially since it was Dustin's first day back. Mike had been spending all his time with El when he could have been spending it with the rest of the party, with _Will_. Not that Will didn't like El. He did. She saved his life and has always been nice to him. But seeing her with Mike, ditching the rest of the party, made him furious.


	4. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will tries to get Mike and Lucas to translate the Russian transmission with him and Dustin, but they're too distracted.

Will wakes up to the sun glaring through his window and Dustin shouting his name through his walkie-talkie as if it's the end of the world. Will groans and rubs his eyes, sitting up and answering. “What, Dustin?”

“Will! Jesus, what took you so long? Did you forget what we're doing today?”

“No, I didn't forget. I was asleep.”

“Okay, but this is important. I'm going to Scoops to meet up with Steve to translate the message. Meet us there as soon as possible. Over.”

Will pulls on a pair of shorts. “Alright, but what about Mike and Lucas?”

“What about them?”

“Did you tell them to meet us there, too? Over.”

Dustin sighs loudly. “I would if they would answer.”

“Look, how about I go over to Mike's and Lucas's and tell them about what we heard? Then we'll all meet you and Steve at the mall. They're probably just sleeping. Over.”

“Fine. But if you're not there in an hour, we're starting without you. Over and out.”

Will gets dressed and is about to rush out the door when he hears Mike's voice from his walkie-talkie. “Will? Are you there? Over.”

“Yeah, I'm here. What is it? Over.”

“I need you to come over to my house. Something happened, and I have to tell you guys. Over.”

Will grins. “Okay! Headed right there. Over and out.”

He passes his mom on his way out the door, and she stops him in his tracks. “Where are you off to now?” she asks.

“Mike's house,” Will tells her. “Then we're going to the mall.”

“Okay.” She smiles and kisses him on the cheek. “Have fun, sweetie. And please call me if you're going to be home late or if you're staying over at Mike's.”

“I will. Bye, Mom!” He rushes out the door, hops on his bike, and pedals as fast as he can to Mike's house. Excitement fills him as he opens the door to Mike's basement, eager to tell him about the Russian transmission.

“Mike! You won't believe – what's wrong?”

Mike is sitting on the couch, his face in his hands, Lucas standing in front of him. Lucas shakes his head and shrugs.

“I lied to her,” Mike says, letting out a loud groan. “I told her I couldn't see her today because my nana's sick, and she knows I'm lying.”

Will's excitement quickly turns to frustration. Of course Mike's mind is on El. He's always thinking about El.

Will goes over to the D&D table and takes a seat, Mike still rambling about how El knows he's lying. Lucas crosses his arms as Mike paces in front of the couch. “I don't understand,” Lucas says. “Why lie?”

“Hopper. He threatened me.”

“Did he say he'd kill you?”

“What?” Mike frowns. “No.”

“So what's the big deal?” Lucas asks.

“The big deal is if I don't do what he says, then he'll stop me from seeing El.”

Will clears his throat, knowing he needs to tell them about what he and Dustin heard the night before. He honestly doesn't care if Mike is having problems with El. Dustin said he'd start translating without them if they didn't come in an hour, and that was half an hour ago. “Hey, guys. There's something-”

“He's crazy. He's lost his mind,” Mike continues to Lucas. “I had no choice, Lucas. I really had no choice.”

“Guys,” Will says again.

“The way you handled this,” Lucas says to Mike, “you're in deep shit.”

Mike flops down on the couch, groaning. Lucas turns to him, explaining how Max has broken up with him five times, and he's won her back each and every time. Will huffs, banging his head on the table. Who cares about girls when they could be translating a secret Russian transmission?

“Guys,” Will says. “There's something important I have to tell you about.” He looks up at his friends, determined to tell them about the Russian message, but they're dashing up the basement stairs. “Wait! Guys, I'm still here!” Will leans over in the chair to see if they are coming back down, but Mike and Lucas are out of sight. “Guys?” He groans, pushing the table roughly as he gets up and stomps upstairs. He finds them in the garage, getting on their bikes, still talking about El and Max. “Where are we going?”

Lucas barely glances up at him as they begin pedaling away. “The mall.”


	5. The Mall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will tries to get Mike and Lucas to go to Scoops Ahoy, but all Mike can think about is getting a gift for El.

The mall is packed with all types of people in their colorful summer clothing, dashing from one store to another, ice cream cones and smoothies in their hands. Will has to keep dodging people to keep up with Mike and Lucas. With so many people around, he decides it best not to tell them about the Russian message until they'll actually listen and won't be overhead. He tries to get Mike and Lucas to head to Scoops Ahoy, but they shrug him off, intent on looking for a gift for El.

Will watches Mike staring at jewelry in some overpriced store. He doesn't see how he'll be able to afford anything. He also doesn't understand why Mike doesn't just apologize to El. It would make things a lot simpler. But instead, they're running through the mall, searching for a gift he can't even afford.

They check out perfumes next. Also overpriced. Will and Lucas laugh after Lucas sprays perfume in Mike's nose. Mike starts sneezing like crazy which causes Will and Lucas to laugh even harder.

They're about to enter a lingerie store, but they stop dead in their tracks, glancing around. Will feels his cheeks turn pink at the thought of having to look at female undergarments. All three boys shake their heads and retreat.

They're sitting next to the fountain, trying to figure out what shop to look in next, when Will spots a pair of girls dashing past them, one with fire-red hair. They're both giggling, holding hands. Mike and Lucas didn't notice the girls and are still droning on. Will takes this chance to get up and run after them.

“Max! El!” He runs in front of the girls, surprising them both.

“Will?” El and Max say together.

Max raises an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?” She pauses, shaking her head. “I mean, are you here by yourself?”

“No, that's why I came over to talk to you. I need your help. Mike and Lucas-”

“Mike?” El says. “He's here?”

Will huffs, knowing he shouldn't have started with that. “Yeah, but-”

“Where is he?”

“The fountain, but-”

Max and El glance at each other before sprinting away. Will runs after them, shouting, “Wait! I need to tell you something!”

When they get to the fountain, Mike and Lucas are nowhere in sight. “Where is he?” El asks Will.

“I don't know. They were just here, so they've got to be somewhere close by. But I really need your help first.”

El's eyebrows knit together in concern. “What is it?”

Will lets out a breath. “Alright, so I've been trying to-”

“Will!” Mike shouts from the other side of the fountain. He and Lucas sprint over to them, but Mike's face drops when he realizes who Will is with. “El? _What_ are you doing here?”

El looks from Will to Mike, crossing her arms. “Shopping.”

Max links her arm with El's. “What do you think of her new style?”

Mike scowls. “You know she can't be here!”

“What is she? Your little pet?”

“Yeah,” El chimes in. “Am I your pet?”

“What?”

El frowns at him. “You said Nana was sick.”

“She is!” Mike nudges Lucas who agrees. “She is sick. That... that's why we're here. To get a gift for Nana... and for you. We came here to get a gift for you, but it's really heard 'cause I only have three dollars and fifty cents.”

“Yeah, really hard,” Lucas adds. “It's expensive.”

Will holds in laughter at his friends' obvious lies. El isn't taking it. She lets go of Max's arm and steps up to Mike. “Why do you lie?”

Mike opens his mouth before shutting it, speechless. El glances at Max, meets her encouraging eyes, then looks back at Mike. She takes another step forward until they're mere inches apart. “I dump your ass!”

Mike's eyebrows furrow, Lucas's eyes widen, and Will raises his eyebrows. El and Max trot off, leaving the boys in shock. Mike runs a hand through his hair. “What just happened?”

Lucas pats Mike's shoulder. “Don't worry, man. Just give her time.”

Mike sighs, nodding, but when he glances up at Will, his eyes narrow. “Why were you talking to them?”

Ignoring the unsettling look Mike's giving him, Will says, “I saw them walking by, and I wanted to see what they were doing since you guys seem pretty busy.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Will shakes his head, exasperated. “Nothing. Nothing... I – I just think we should do something fun today. Without girls. Can't we just get some ice cream or something?”

The corners of Mike's mouth turn upwards. “Okay, we can get ice cream after we get El a gift.”

Will's breath hitches. “Get El a gift? She just dumped you!”

“Perseverance,” Lucas chimes in.

Will keeps his eyes set on Mike who looks a bit too determined about El's gift. It's already been far longer than an hour that they had searched for a gift, and Will is struggling to keep his impatience subtle. “You said you can't even afford anything for her.”

Mike shrugs. “As far as we've looked, yeah, but maybe we'll find something now.”

“That's the spirit!” Lucas grins.

“Seriously?” Will rolls his eyes, trying not to scream. “Why are you so obsessed with El, Mike?”

“I'm not obsessed with her! I just want to get her a gift to apologize.”

“Fine, go ahead. I'm leaving.” Will storms off, fully intent on going to Scoops Ahoy himself.

“What? Will, wait!” Mike races forward and grabs Will's shoulder. “We can go get ice cream first, if that's what you want.”

Will ducks out of Mike's reach and glares at him. “You don't get it, do you, Mike?”

“Get what?” Mike's utter confusion makes Will want to throttle him.

“You're ruining our party!”

Mike looks taken aback. “What? That's not true!”

“Really? Where's Dustin right now?”

Mike pauses, staring at the ground for an answer he doesn't have.

“See? If you would just listen to me, you'd know, but you don't even care. All you care about is swapping spit with some stupid girl!”

“El's not stupid! And it's not my fault you don't like girls!”

Will stares at Mike in utter shock. His face is burning, and he can feel the stares of passerby. Lucas, who is standing behind Mike, can't even look up from the floor.

“I'm not trying to be a jerk, okay?” Mike continues. “But we're not kids anymore. Did you really think we were never going to get girlfriends?”

Tears are brimming in Will's eyes. He can't stand looking at Mike anymore, so he flees through the crowded mall.

“Will!” Mike shouts, trying to run after him. “Will, wait! I'm sorry!”

Will doesn't turn back.


	6. Scoops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will goes to Scoops Ahoy to help Dustin translate the Russian transmission.

Will's cheeks are wet with tears when he stumbles into Scoops Ahoy. Steve is at the counter, finishing ringing up a couple of teenage girls. Will tries wiping his tears away, but his eyes are still red and puffy.

The girls leave, and Steve lifts his head when Will appears across from him. His usual fake-happy Scoops face is replaced by one of concern. “Byers? What happened?”

Crossing his arms and shaking his head, Will replies, “Doesn't matter. Is Dustin here?”

“Oh, yeah.” Steve motions for him to go through the back door. Before Will does, Steve gives him a reassuring smile. “You're a good friend, Byers. Dustin really admires you.”

Will smiles before heading into the back of Scoops Ahoy. Dustin is sitting at a table with a recorder in one hand and a book in another. Steve's co-worker, a girl named Robin, is staring at letters on a whiteboard. Will takes an unsteady breath. “Hey.”

His eyes glued to the book in his hand, Dustin says, “Took you long enough.” He then glances up and raises an eyebrow when he sees Will's tear-stricken face. “What happened?”

Will opens his mouth to shrug it off and say it was nothing, but instead, a sob escapes his throat. He can't get Mike's words out of his head. _It's not my fault you don't like girls... we're not kids anymore._

Dustin's chair squeaks as he jumps out of it and hugs Will. Robin looks away from the whiteboard, watching the two boys intently.

“I'm sorry,” Will cries into Dustin's shoulder.

Dustin pulls away. “What are you sorry for?”

“For being such a sissy. I tried to get here to help you, but Mike and Lucas wouldn't listen to me.”

“It's fine, Will. Really. And don't blame yourself. They're the ones being assholes.”

Will rubs his eyes, forcing a smile. “I just feel like I'm holding everyone back.”

“Holding everyone back? No, you're not!” Dustin puts a hand on Will's shoulder. “You're the one who's holding us together. But really, Mike and Lucas don't deserve to share in our glory.”

“Glory?”

Dustin takes a step back and grins. “Byers, we could be American heroes! We've already translated our first sentence!”

Will perks up at this. “Really? What is it?”

In a Russian accent, Robin says, “The week is long.”

“Oh, great.”

“Don't despair, Byers,” Dustin says. “We're just getting started.”

Dustin and Will take seats at the table while Robin keeps her eyes trained on the whiteboard which Will now sees has the Russian alphabet written on it. Dustin hits play on his recorder, and they begin translating.

After getting the next phrase – the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west – Dustin darts out of the room to catch Steve up on the translation. Robin takes a seat next to Will, smiling at the boy. “You know,” she says, “you shouldn't call yourself a sissy. You're not one.”

Will scrunches up his nose in disagreement, but Robin pokes a finger at his chest. “I know who you are,” she says. “You're Will Byers. You're the kid who went missing in the woods for a week, like, two years ago. I mean, you went an entire week alone in the woods, probably fighting for your life while everyone else thought you were dead. You, Will Byers, are not a sissy. Honestly, you've got to be one of the strongest and bravest kids I've ever met.”

Will laughs awkwardly, looking down at the table. “You barely know me.”

“Well, Dustin knows you, and he seems to think you're pretty freaking great, dingus.”

As if on cue, Dustin flings open the door and saunters in. “What'd I miss?”

Robin and Will look at each other before bursting out in laughter.


	7. Indiana Flyer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin find out a significant detail about the Russian transmission.

By the end of the day, Robin, Dustin, Steve, and Will had translated four phrases of the Russian communication, yet they still don't understand what it means. As Steve and Robin close up Scoops Ahoy, Will and Dustin discuss what the message could potentially mean.

“It has to be a code of some sort,” Dustin says. “What could a silver cat feeding be?”

Will shrugs. “I don't know. Sounds ominous.”

“Sounds like bullshit,” Steve says, joining the boys with Robin and beginning to walk down the hallway. “It's obviously not right. It's total nonsense.”

Dustin shakes his head. “No, it's too specific. It's gotta be like a super secret spy code.”

“That's a total stretch.”

“I don't know, is it?” Robin says. “I mean, think about it. Why would anyone say the silver cat feeds unless they're trying to mask the true meaning of their message?”

“Exactly,” Dustin agrees.

“And why would anyone want to mask the true meaning of their message unless their message is somehow sensitive?”

“Exactly!”

Will crosses his arms. “So... evil Russians?”

Robin chuckles. “Yeah, evil Russians.”

“How do we crack the code?” Dustin asks.

“We still have to translate the rest,” Will says. “It'll be hard to crack the code until then.”

Robin nods her head in agreement. “And hopefully a pattern will emerge. Like maybe- where's Steve?”

Robin, Will, and Dustin glance around until they spot Steve kneeling next to an Indiana Flyer horse ride. He's sifting through coins in his hand, shoving some into the ride's coin slot. Robin laughs. “What are you doing?”

“I need a quarter,” Steve says.

Will, Dustin, and Robin all exchange confused looks.

Steve groans impatiently. “Quarter!” Will and Dustin frantically sift through their pockets, then Will tosses a quarter to Steve who presumes to let the horse ride play. Steve is utterly entranced by it.

“What's going on?” Will whispers to Robin and Dustin. Robin shrugs while Dustin yanks his recorder out of his backpack, pressing the play button. In the background of the Russian transmission, the faint sound of music plays. The same music playing from the Indiana Flyer.

“Maybe they have horses like this in Russia,” Robin suggests.

“The Indiana Flyer?” Steve says. “I don't think so. This code... it didn't come from Russia. It came from here.”

Everyone falls silent for a minute. Will stares at the Indiana Flyer, wondering what this could mean for him and his friends. For Hawkins.

“So these Russians... they could be infiltrating Hawkins as we speak?” Dustin asks.

Steve shrugs. “It's possible.”

“What do we do about it?” Will says.

“We have to find out where they are,” Dustin says.

Robin bites her lip. “Okay, but can we do that tomorrow? I'm going to go insane if I don't go home now and change out of this uniform.”

“As if you're not already insane,” Steve says.

“Shut up, dingus.”

Dustin adjusts his backpack straps on his shoulders. “Alright, we'll meet up again tomorrow morning.”

Steve, Robin, and Will mumble okays, and they all continue on their way out of the mall. When they get outside, Robin waves them goodbye as she grabs her bike and rides off. Will grabs his bike off the bike rack while Dustin and Steve walk towards the parking lot.

Steve stops walking and glances at Will. “Hey, Byers, why don't I drive you home?”

“Oh, no, that's fine. I've got my bike.”

“I'm serious, Byers. I'm already driving Dustin, and you literally live a second away from me. Just toss your bike in my trunk.”

Will stands still, contemplating. Steve watches him with a friendly face, awaiting his reply. Sighing, Will shrugs. “Alright. Thanks.”

Steve smiles, and the three of them walk to his car. Dustin calls shotgun, so Will sits in the seat behind him. While Dustin begins rambling about what the Russians could be doing in Hawkins, Will stares out the window, wondering what Mike is up to right now. Probably searching for that gift he so badly wanted to get El. God, how Will wishes they could go back to before the Mind Flayer, before the Demogorgon. Before El. Not that he hates El. He can't hate her because he barely knows her. Whenever he sees El, she's sweet, but all she does is hang out with Mike. _Mike, Mike, Mike. It's all about him, isn't it?_ It always has been. Will never noticed until El came back and Mike didn't hang around the rest of the party as much. Will thought his dependence on Mike stemmed from him being there for Will last fall when the Mind Flayer got to him. Then he saw Mike and El kiss at the Snow Ball, and he knew what made Mike's concern for him so comforting wasn't just him being his best friend. Will soon realized when summer started and he, Mike, Lucas, and Max went to the movies together, butterflies would flutter about his stomach each time Mike looked at him. Will shuts his eyes as he remembers Day of the Dead. As usual, Lucas and Max sat in the row in front of them, leaving Mike and Will to themselves. Will had been really excited about seeing the movie but the excitement died down when the feeling of dread fell over him. He didn't know exactly what it meant, but it wasn't good. His breath caught in his throat when Mike asked if he was okay, but he quickly said he was fine. All he wanted was to have a fun time with his friends, with Mike, yet something always had to come up. He ignored the cold feeling and tried to focus on the movie, but there another feeling nagged at him. Butterflies in his stomach. Will turned his head to see Mike staring intensely at him. He felt a blush creeping up on him, so he looked quickly back to the movie screen. He still felt Mike's eyes on him. Thinking back to that moment, Will wonders what exactly Mike was looking at him for. Was it because he realized Will was lying about feeling fine? Or was it something else? Will shakes his head. Of course it wasn't something else. Mike is his best friend. His completely straight best friend. It's not like it matters what Mike was staring at him for either. Not after their fight.

“See you guys tomorrow!” Dustin says as he gets out of the car and shuts the door.

Steve glances back at Will. “You can come sit up here.”

Will takes a moment to pull his thoughts together before hopping up to the passenger seat. Steve gives him a smile, turning on the radio before driving away from Dustin's. “So Henderson tells me the other knuckleheads ditched you guys when he got back from camp.”

“Yeah, they did,” Will replies. He glances at Steve, then sighs. “We had a fight, too.”

“Really? Dustin didn't say anything about that.”

“It wasn't with Dustin. It was earlier today.”

Steve taps his knuckles on the steering wheel. “With who? Wheeler and Sinclair?”

“Mostly just Mike. Lucas didn't say much.”

“Was this right before you came to Scoops?”

Will nods.

“What were you fighting about?”

“I don't know. Just stupid stuff.”

Steve glances at Will. “You know, at your age, don't even worry about your friends. After high school, it won't even matter. You'll find new ones. Better ones.”

Will doesn't like the sound of that. He likes his friends now even if they're assholes. They've been with him through all the crap the last two years. He can barely imagine life without them.

They pull into the driveway of Will's house where Jonathan's car is parked. Will reaches for the door handle, but Steve raises his hand to stop him. “How – how's Jonathan?” Steve asks.

Will takes his hand away from the door and looks at Steve. “Jonathan? He's fine.”

“That's good. You know, Byers, he's a good brother to you. I would've done anything to have someone who loves me as much as he loves you.”

Unsure of what to say, Will just nods, reaching for the door handle again.

“If Wheeler really cares about you, he'll come around, but don't dwell on people who treat you like shit.”

Will gives Steve a smile before getting out of the car. “I won't... and thanks for the ride, Steve.”

“No problem, Byers.”


	8. Rabid Rat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will comes home to find Jonathan looking through some odd photographs.

Will's mind is buzzing with thoughts when he opens the front door. A secret Russian code sent from here in Hawkins? What are the Russians even doing here? Does it have something to do with that cold feeling he got at Day of the Dead and in the field before they set up Cerebro?

Will is surprised yet relieved to see his mom isn't home. He had been afraid she would be worried that he hadn't called since he stayed late at the mall. Instead, Jonathan is sitting on the couch examining photographs. He looks up at Will when he shuts the door.

“Hey, Jonathan.” Will takes a seat next to his brother. “Where's Mom?”

Jonathan lifts a shoulder. “No clue. She wasn't here when I got home.”

Will peaks at the photographs Jonathan has in his hands. All of them seem to show a rat running around and jumping at the camera.

“Will...” Jonathan sets the photos down on the coffee table and rubs his hands together. “Did something happen today? Mike and Lucas came by here earlier looking for you. They told me they wanted to say sorry for something they said, but they didn't tell me what it was.”

Will crosses his arms.

“What were they apologizing for?”

“It's nothing. Just a fight we had.”

“What were you fighting about?”

Will hesitates. Should he tell Jonathan? If he does, then he'll have to go into why he was so angry at Mike. He can just say it was because they were ignoring him since that was part of it, but what if Jonathan realizes he was jealous of El? He didn't want Jonathan to suspect anything.

Jonathan narrows his eyes. “Will, you know you can talk to me if someone says something mean to you. I know I haven't been around as much this summer because of my internship, but I promise you can come to me if something happens. I'll always listen to you, Will.”

“I know.” Will stares forward at the rat photographs to avoid looking at his brother. “It's just... sometimes I don't want to tell anyone. Sometimes I need to keep things to myself, at least for a little while. Sometimes I need to think things over before I tell anyone anything.”

Jonathan leans back, staring up at the ceiling in silence. “Okay,” he says. “I get it. Just don't go too long without telling anyone anything.”

Smiling, Will hugs his brother. “I know.”

Jonathan looks back at his photographs.

Leaning over the coffee table, Will asks, “What are these anyway?”

“Some sort of rabid rat Nancy and I were looking at.”

“Rabid rat?”

Jonathan shrugs. “Yeah. It's got rabies or something. It was eating Mrs. Driscoll's fertilizer.”

Will squints at the photographs, trying to make out what he's seeing. The rat definitely looks crazed, but rabies? He's not sure about that. There's definitely something eery about it, but Will can't put a finger on what exactly that is.

Will and Jonathan go to bed after a few minutes. When his head hits the pillow, all Will can think about is the secret Russian code.


	9. Looking for Russians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will goes to the mall to look for Russians with Steve and Dustin.

Will wakes up to Dustin shouting his name over and over again on his walkie-talkie. He changes into his clothes before answering. “Yes, Dustin?”

“Where are you, Byers? Over.”

“Home. It's only eight thirty. What do you-”

“Get to Scoops now! Over and out!”

“Wait, what? Dustin? Hello, Dustin? Are you there?”

Silence from the other end. Will groans, lugging himself out of his room and into the kitchen where his mom and Jonathan are already eating breakfast. “Morning, sweetie,” Joyce says as Will grabs a waffle and proceeds to devour it. “Are you in a hurry?”

“Yeah, Dustin wants me to meet him at the mall.”

“Oh, so you boys made up?”

Will swallows a bite of waffle. “What do you mean?”

“ _Mom..._ ” Jonathan eyes their mother.

Joyce lets out a heavy sigh. “Jonathan mentioned you and your friends may have had a fight. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Jonathan huffs. “Really, Mom?”

“I didn't fight with Dustin,” Will says. “It doesn't matter anyways. I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?” Joyce asks.

“Yes, Mom. Can I just go to the mall now?”

Joyce gets out of her chair and grabs her keys. “Okay, but I can drive you since I'm headed out anyway.”

Will and Joyce say bye to Jonathan before leaving. As they drive down the road, Will watches the trees rush by and thinks of the night two years ago when he fell off his bike in those woods and soon after came face to face with the demogorgon. He couldn't go a day without the thought of it and the Mind Flayer coming up in his mind. Not to mention the nightmares. Every night he would wake up trembling and crying. What he would give for all of it to disappear.

“Will?” Joyce says.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“Are you sure everything's okay?”

“Positive.”

Joyce purses her lips, unconvinced. “You would tell me if something isn't, right?”

“Of course.”

“So, I don't have to worry about whatever fight you and your friends had?”

Will gives her a reassuring smile. “No, you don't have to worry. It was just a stupid fight. Not a big deal. We're fine.”

Joyce glances at her son and smiles. “Okay. I love you, you know.”

Will laughs. “I know, Mom. I love you, too.”

For the rest of the ride, they talk about new movies and ideas Will has for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. When they arrive at the mall, Will hugs his mom and gets out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Mom.”

“Oh, Will, make sure you're not out too late tonight. It's supposed to storm,” Joyce calls through the car window.

“Okay,” Will says before she drives off, and he heads into the mall. He's glad to get his mind off the Mind Flayer and his fight with Mike and focus on more fun things like translating a secret Russian code.

Will enters Scoops Ahoy with a smile on his face.

“Move, nerd!” Lucas's sister, Erica, says as she shoves past him. Will ducks out of the way to avoid getting hit by her ice cream cone.

At the counter, Robin chuckles and shakes her head. “Hey, dingus, get over here.”

Will walks up to the counter and leans his elbows on it while Robin scoops chocolate ice cream into a cone. “Are Dustin and Steve in the back?”

Robin shakes her head. “No, they're somewhere out in the mall looking for Russians.” She hands the ice cream to Will.

“What's this for?” he asks.

“To boost morale.” She holds up a hand when Will starts to sift through his pockets for change. “It's on me.”

Will pauses then smiles. “Thanks, Robin.”

“No problem. Now, why don't you join our two morons? Last I saw them, they were hiding behind some plants.”

Grinning, Will thanks Robin again before leaving Scoops to find Steve and Dustin. He finds them a few feet away, crouching behind a large fern, Dustin squinting through a pair of binoculars. Will kneels behind them, careful not to drop his ice cream. “Hey, guys,” he whispers.

Steve and Dustin fall forward, Dustin face-planting into the fern. Will stifles a laugh.

“Byers!” Dustin hisses, brushing himself off. “Don't sneak up on us like that! We're doing important work.”

Will furrows his eyebrows. “And what exactly is that?”

“We're looking for Russians.”

“How do you know if you see one?”

“Just look for, you know, someone intimidating, blond, who looks like they're hiding something.”

“Have you spotted any yet?”

Steve shakes his head. “Nope, nothing.”

“Steve was just complaining about some random girl he can't get when he's got the perfect one right in front of him,” Dustin says.

Steve rolls his eyes. “Enough about Robin. Like I said, she's not my type.”

“Oh, c'mon, Steve, she's amazing. Back me up, Will.”

Will shrugs. “Yeah, she's cool.”

“See, Harrington? She's perfect.”

“Cool isn't the same thing as perfect. And don't back him up, Byers. He doesn't know what he's talking about.” Steve grabs the binoculars from Dustin and looks through them himself. “I'm not seeing any Russians. I doubt they'd be that obvious.”

Dustin makes a face. “Right, well, what do you expect us to do anyway? The transmission is nearly all translated.”

“Really?” Will says. “When did that happen?”

Dustin shrugs. “Robin's been working on it. She's a genius.”

“All she got was 'a trip to China sounds nice,'” Steve says. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“As we've already established, it's a code. We're not going to understand it until the rest of the transmission is translated.” Dustin grabs the binoculars back from Steve. “In the meantime, we should be looking for Russians.”


	10. Duffel Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike tries to reach Will, and Will, Dustin, and Steve spot someone suspicious at the mall.

They had been sitting behind the fern for a couple hours when a voice comes in on Will's walkie-talkie. “Hello? Will, are you there? It's Mike. Over.”

Steve, Dustin, and Will look at the walkie-talkie. Will takes a deep breath and answers, “What do you want, Mike? Over.”

“Will? Oh, thank god! Where are you? Lucas and I have been looking for you. We came by your house yesterday, but you weren't there. Over.”

“Yeah, I know,” Will says. He eyes Steve and Dustin, so they go back to looking for the Russians. Will lowers his voice. “I really don't want to talk right now, Mike. Over.”

“Will, I know I was an asshole. I'm sorry. Can we just talk about it? Over.”

“I don't care. I need some time. Over.”

“What?” Mike's voice sounds panicked. “Why? Will, I said I'm sorry. I mean it. I really-”

“Mike, stop. I'm just busy right now. We can talk another time. Over and out.”

“No, not out! Will, c'mon. Where are you? Over.”

Will sighs. “I don't want to see you right now, Mike. Go talk to El instead. Over and out.” He turns off his walkie-talkie before Mike can utter another word.

Steve and Dustin are watching him. Dustin raises an eyebrow and asks, “What was that about?”

“Nothing. We just had a fight.”

“I haven't seen you guys not want to talk to each other before,” Dustin says. “Was it really that bad?”

“C'mon, Dustin. I don't want to talk about it.” Will grabs the binoculars from Dustin and peers through them. As he does, he spots a blond guy with sunglasses on carrying a large, blue duffel bag, and wearing all black. Will nudges Dustin and Steve. “Hey! I think I see someone.”

“Really?” Dustin snatches the binoculars back and looks through them. “Whoa, you're right!”

“Gimme that,” Steve huffs, grabbing the binoculars. “Where? I don't see anyone.”

Will points at the suspicious guy. “Over there.”

“Where?”

“Ten o'clock!” Dustin says.

Steve's mouth falls open when he sees the guy. “Shit... duffel bag.”

Will, Dustin, and Steve scurry after the suspicious guy, struggling not to get too close and blow their cover. The guy goes up an escalator to the second floor. They rush after him, and Will apologizes when they bump into several people.

“Slow down,” Dustin says.

Steve ignores him, blazing his way through the crowd. “We're losing him.”

“I think we're getting a bit close,” Will says.

Steve knocks into some guy who proceeds to yell, “Watch it, dickwad!”

The suspicious guy slows his walk, turning his head. Will, Dustin, and Steve glance around frantically when the guy looks back in their direction. Dustin grabs a wall phone, pretending to talk into it; Will leaps behind a potted plant; and Steve turns towards a wall. The guy looks away and starts walking again. Steve grabs Will's and Dustin's shoulders and continues to follow him.

They all hold their breaths when the guy enters a _Jazzercise_ gym and goes to the desk. He opens his duffel bag and... pulls out a boombox.

Will, Dustin, and Steve trudge back to Scoops after witnessing a bizarre display of jazzercising butts. Steve huffs when Robin comes towards them. “You'll never believe who they thought was Russian,” Steve says, pointing to Will and Dustin, but Robin runs right past them. The boys follow her to the center of the mall where she's glancing around and muttering under her breath.

“Robin, what are you doing?” Steve asks.

Turning to the boys, Robin grins. “I cracked it.”

“Cracked what?”

“I cracked the code.”


	11. Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Robin, and Dustin discuss what the Russians could be doing in Hawkins, and Will has a talk with Steve.

As they wait to head up to the mall's roof at 9:45, Will, Dustin, and Robin theorize what the Russians could be hiding while Steve scoops ice cream to customers.

“Maybe it's a secret weapon,” Dustin says. “They could be trying to infiltrate our government.”

“But why would they be in Hawkins?” Will wonders.

Robin chews her lip. “Exactly. You'd think if they were trying to get to our government or something like that, they'd go to D.C, not some small town in Indiana. It just doesn't make sense.”

“What if we're not the only town they're in?” Dustin suggests.

“It's still weird that they'd choose Hawkins of all places to go to. There has to be a reason for them to come here. Maybe it has to do with Hawkins Lab.”

Will sits up straight. “What do you mean?”

Robin shrugs. “The lab covered up a girl's death after she died from their chemical leak. Maybe the Russians had something to do with it, or maybe the lab had something the Russians want.”

“I think you might be onto something,” Dustin says.

Will looks at him then gets up, heading to the door. “I need some batteries for my Supercom. Can you come get some with me, Dustin?”

Dustin raises an eyebrow but gets up anyway. “Sure.” He looks to Robin. “We'll be back.”

Robin waves them away, and Will leads Dustin out of Scoops. Dustin eyes Will suspiciously but doesn't say anything. When they're a few shops away, Will turns to him. “Do you think the Russians could be here because of the Upside Down?”

“I figured that's what you were thinking. We won't know until we go to the loading dock tonight, but it's definitely possible.”

They go into a store and buy a pack of AA batteries, splitting it between the two of them. “Do you think we should tell Robin about the Upside Down and the whole Mind Flayer thing?” Will asks as they leave the store and head back to Scoops.

Dustin shrugs. “It's up to you. If we figure out that's the reason why the Russians are here, then definitely, but if not, we don't have to unless you want to.”

Steve is still serving ice cream when they get to Scoops. Dustin and Will say hi, about to go to the back, but Steve stops Will before he follows Dustin through the door. “Hey, Byers. Wheeler and Sinclair came by here a couple minutes ago looking for you. Did you tell them you were coming here? Because I told them you left and that I didn't know where you were going.”

Mike and Lucas were looking for him? Still? He doesn't know what to think of that. He's still angry at Mike, furious for what he said, yet the fact that Mike is looking for him makes him feel... what is it? Relieved? Hopeful? Whatever it is, he doesn't know what to do with it.

“They really seemed worried about you,” Steve continues. “I don't know exactly what happened, but if they're trying this hard to apologize, I think they mean it.”

Will wrings his hands together. “Steve, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“If your best friend started dating some girl and before you know it, all he does is hang out with her instead of with his friends and starts ignoring you and acting like his world revolves around her, and he doesn't even let his girlfriend hang out with anyone else because they only spend time with each other, is it wrong of you if you got angry at him for that?” Will is out of breath by the time he finishes his question. His ears turn red the second he realizes what he asked.

Steve leans against the counter, contemplative. “You know, Byers, there was a time I was a bit like this best friend you're talking about. There was this girl I fell in love with and, at the time, all I could think about was her. It felt like my world revolved around her. Everything I did was because of her, even though I did some shitty things. I didn't think about anyone else's feelings but her's and mine until I realized I was being an asshole to a lot of people, including her.”

“What did you do then?”

“I tried my best to make it right with the people I'd hurt. In the end, that meant letting the girl I fell in love with go.”

“You're talking about Nancy, aren't you?”

Steve feigns shock before chuckling to himself. “Sometimes I forget you're a Byers, Byers.”

Will rolls his eyes. “Alright, but what about the people you hurt? How did they forgive you?”

“I don't know that they have. But if this situation applies to you, it's bound to be different.”

“I never said it had anything to do with me.”

“C'mon, Byers. It's Wheeler, isn't it?”

“Huh?”

Steve crosses his arms. “This best friend. I'm guessing it's Wheeler, right? Is that what your fight was about?”

“Sort of.”

“Well, like I said before, if he really cares about you, he'll come around.” Steve nudges Will's shoulder. “And based on what I've seen, he has.”

Will can't keep a smile from creeping up on his face. He nudges Steve back. “You never answered my question.”

Steve furrows his eyebrows. “Which question?”

“Is it wrong to get angry at him for always making everything about his girlfriend?”

“You can't change how you feel about things, but if you tell him how you feel, I'm sure he'll understand.”

Will takes a moment to think over Steve's words. He's not even sure what answer he was hoping for. “Okay, I'll try.” Will opens the door but pauses before he goes to the back. He turns to Steve, smiling. “Thanks, Steve.”

“No problem.”


	12. A Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin go to the mall roof. Steve drives everyone home, and Will has a feeling.

When Will, Dustin, Robin, and Steve go to the roof, it's pouring rain. Steve barely catches himself from slipping. The four of them crouch by the edge of the building where they can see the loading dock. Several guys armed with guns are standing guard around it. Dustin takes out his binoculars.

“What are we looking for again?” Will whispers.

“Imperial Panda and Kaufman shoes,” Robin says.

Dustin looks around before pointing at someone rolling a cart of boxes. “They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock.”

“What do you think's in there?” Steve asks.

“Guns, bombs?”

“Chemical weapons?” Robin says.

“Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth.”

“Great.” Steve wipes rain out of his eyes. “That's great.”

Down by the loading dock, a door opens to a room that the guy with the boxes goes into. Robin leans forward. “Hey, what do you think's in there?”

“It's just more boxes,” Dustin says.

Will squints through the rain, trying to see into the room, but it's useless without binoculars.

“Let me check it out,” Steve says, reaching over Will to grab Dustin's binoculars.

“No, I'm still looking.” Dustin hangs onto the binoculars tightly.

“Lemme see it.”

Will frowns as Steve and Dustin wrestle with the binoculars. “Be quiet. They'll hear us.”

“Hang on!” Dustin yanks the binoculars from Steve, hitting them on the metal of the roof, a loud _clang_ echoing through the air. Robin gasps, and the four of them duck quickly behind the wall. Below, they hear someone yell in Russian.

“We have to get out of here,” Will says.

Robin nods, motioning towards a stairwell different than the one they'd come up. She leads the way as they all rush down it. When they're back inside a hallway of the mall, panting and dripping wet, Robin looks at the boys. “Well, I think we found your Russians.”

No one says anything else until they're out in the parking lot, Steve offering to drive all of them home. They all hop in his car and start towards Robin's house, Dustin in the passenger seat and Will and Robin in the back. “Now that we know where the Russians are, what do we do?” Will asks.

“We have to get into that room,” Dustin says. “Then we can see what's in those boxes.”

“But how do we do that?”

Robin bites her lip. “Exactly. Those guards are going to be impossible to get past unless we have a distraction or find another way in.”

“We can scope out the loading dock again tomorrow morning,” Dustin says. “Maybe then we'll see something we didn't before.”

“You and Will can, but Steve and I have jobs,” Robin reminds him.

Dustin rolls his eyes. “I know that. We'll report back to you what we see. That way, we can-”

Will misses what Dustin says next because a wave of fear and dread falls over him. He's frozen, his stomach drops, and his heart pounds in his chest. Will tries to steady his breath, but it's like the terror has taken over him, swallowing him up. In the distance, he hears voices calling his name, but it's not until a hand grabs his shoulder that he's jerked back to reality.

“Will? Are you okay?” Dustin and Robin are staring at him, Robin's hand on his shoulder.

Steve keeps glancing back at him. “What's going on, Byers?”

Will shakes away the feeling. “I-”

“Steve, watch out!” Dustin cries. The car swerves to the side, barely missing two girls riding a bike down the road, and stops with a screech. Dustin rolls down the window. “Are you okay?” He shouts to the girls.

The girls look towards the car, and Will sees that it's Max and Eleven. “Dustin?” Max says. “Yeah, we're fine other than the fact that you guys nearly ran us over.”

“Sorry,” Steve says. “Do you need a ride home?”

Eleven shakes her head. “We're almost to Max's house.”

“Alright, just be careful.”

Max gives him a thumbs up. “Right back at you.”

Will watches the girls ride off while they drive away. What are they doing out this late in the rain and did it have anything to do with the feeling Will got? He can't help thinking it did.

Dustin is bickering with Steve about always keeping his eyes on the road. Robin nudges Will and says in a low voice, “Hey, are you alright? You had a bit of a moment there.”

“Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought... never mind.” Will turns away and stares out the window.

“Wait.” Robin takes Will's shoulder, turning him towards herself. “What is it?”

Will sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I don't know. I just got a weird feeling. It was nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Robin doesn't look like she believes him, but she takes her hand off his shoulder anyway. “If you say so.”

After dropping Robin and Dustin off, Will hops up to the passenger seat, and they head to his house. Steve cranks up the music, and, instead of talking, they bop their heads to the beat. When they pull into Will's driveway, they're laughing and pretend drumming on the dash.

Steve goes quiet when he looks towards the Byers' house. “Look who it is,” he says. Will peers through the windshield and sees Mike and Lucas slumped by his front door. They're squinting at the car, unable to see who's inside.

“What do I do?” Will says.

“Talk to them. They obviously have something to say.”

Nervous, Will looks to Steve who motions him to go. Taking a deep breath, Will steps out of the car. Mike and Lucas hop to their feet when they see him.

“Good luck,” Steve says before driving off.


	13. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Lucas apologize to Will.

Will trudges to his porch, shivering from the cold rain. “What are you doing here?” He ducks past Mike and Lucas, opens the front door, and lets his friends inside. “I said I didn't feel like talking to you guys right now.”

“Hey, I completely get it. We're really sorry, man,” Lucas says as Will leads them to the couch. They all sit down awkwardly. “For real. We were being stupid and-”

“We were assholes,” Mike adds.

“Yeah, you were.” Will crosses his arms. “What do you want?”

“To apologize.”

Will watches them intently.

Lucas glances at Mike, who has a pained look on his face, and forges on. “Will, I'm really sorry for everything that happened yesterday, and a lot of the summer really. We were being total assholes. We should have listened to what you wanted to say. I guess we were just too preoccupied with the girls that we weren't thinking about anyone else. I'm really, really sorry.” He puts out his hand for Will to shake. “So... are we okay?”

Smiling, Will shakes his hand then pulls him into a hug. “It's fine, Lucas.”

Will catches Mike's eye when he pulls away from Lucas. He can't decipher the expression on Mike's face, but he looks like he wants to run out of the room. Lucas nudges Mike, motioning to Will.

Mike swallows. “I'm sorry, too, Will. Even more sorry, actually. I've been a total asshole to you all summer, all of you guys. But yesterday, I was just... I was completely out of line, and I'm so sorry about what I said to you. I really didn't mean it, and I... we should have done what you wanted to do instead of always doing what I want. I totally get it if you never want to speak to me again. I was selfish and a total dick, and I'm sorry, Will.”

“Yeah, you were a total dick,” Will says. A look of fear falls over Mike's face, but then Will cracks a smile and starts laughing. Lucas joins in, and after blinking tears from his eyes, Mike does, too. Reaching over, Will hugs Mike tightly. “It's okay, Mike.”

“I really am sorry,” Mike murmurs into Will's ear.

“I know, Mike. I know.”


	14. Different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Lucas spend the night at Will's.

The three boys are sitting on the floor beside Will's bed, Will explaining what he's been doing the past couple days with Dustin, Steve, and Robin.

“So you're telling me, for the past two days, you, Dustin, Steve, and the girl who works at Scoops Ahoy have all been translating some secret Russian code, and now you think the Russians are hiding something in the mall?” Lucas asks.

Will nods. “Pretty much.”

“Why didn't you tell us?” Mike asks.

Will gives him a look that makes Mike's cheeks go pink. “I tried to.”

“Oh, right.” Mike glances away. “Well, what can we do to help?”

“Apologize to Dustin.”

Mike and Lucas furrow their eyebrows. “What'd we do to Dustin?” Mike asks.

“You ditched him the day he came back from camp.”

Lucas puts his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, I didn't ditch him! I helped with Cerebro and stayed for awhile. It started to get boring though, so don't blame me for leaving.”

“Yeah, fine, Lucas. Whatever.” Will turns towards Mike. “But you need to apologize.”

Mike frowns. “Okay, but when am I supposed to do that?”

“Tomorrow morning. I'm meeting Dustin at the mall at nine. You can do it then.”

Lucas yawns, stretching as he gets to his feet. “Fine by me. Are we sleeping over?”

“If you want. I've got blankets you can sleep on and pajamas you can borrow.”

“Alright, cool. But is it alright if I shower? I got mud all over myself today.”

Will shrugs, getting up to go through his closet. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Mike chuckles as Lucas leaves for the bathroom. “More like he face-planted in a ditch.”

“Really?” Will laughs, grabbing some pajamas and tossing them on his bed.

“Yeah, he tripped on his bike and fell in a ditch on the side of the road. It was hilarious.”

“Wow.”

“I wish you had been there.”

Will stops laughing and looks at Mike whose eyes are fixed on him. “Yeah, me too.” He looks back to his closet for extra blankets.

“Will, I really am sorry.”

He can feel Mike's eyes on him as he sifts through his closet. “It's fine, Mike. You don't have to keep apologizing.”

“I know, but...” Mike lets out a loud sigh. “I just feel really bad about it. Not being able to talk to you... it sucked.”

“Yeah, you too.”

“It's just that... what I said, at the mall, it was... it was really shitty.”

Will finds a pile of clean blankets in the corner of his closet and takes them out, plopping them down on the floor as he faces Mike. “Mike, I said it's fine. We don't have to talk about it.”

Mike jumps to his feet. “But I want to.”

“Mike, really, _it's fine_.”

“No, Will. It's not. I said some awful things to you, and you're... you're right about me ruining the party.”

Will shakes his head. “I didn't mean that. You're not ruining anything.”

“Yes, I am. I ruined my relationship with you, and El, and Dustin's annoyed with me, and Max doesn't like me either.”

“You didn't ruin our friendship! We're still friends! And Dustin will forgive you, and so will El. Max isn't so bad either, if you would just try to get along with her.”

Crossing his arms, Mike flops down on Will's bed, groaning. “I still can't believe El dumped me like that. Why _were_ you with them at the mall that day? Was it because of the Russian code?”

“Yeah. I was trying to get you guys to listen to me, but you wouldn't so I thought maybe they could help me.”

“So much for that.”

“Yeah, so much for that.”

Mike sits up on his elbows, watching Will intently. Not wanting to maintain uncomfortable eye contact, Will takes the blankets he'd tossed on the floor and spreads them out for Mike and Lucas to sleep on. He can feel Mike's eyes following his every move. He turns his back to the bed, praying Mike can't see the blush trailing up from his neck. He jumps, nearly falling backwards, when Mike clears his throat.

Will turns, looking up at the bed where Mike is watching him. “What?”

“Sometimes I think I'm better when I'm not with her,” Mike says.

“Who?”

“Eleven.”

“Oh.”

Mike shakes his head, staring up at the ceiling. “I think differently when I'm with her. It's like I'm more... possessive. And not always in a good way.”

“Yeah, I've noticed.”

Their eyes meet, and Mike pats the bedspread beside him. Will hesitates before lying down next to him, trying to make his heart beat slow down. They both stare up at the ceiling.

“It didn't used to be like this,” Mike says.

“What didn't?”

“Me and El. It was different before. Better. Now, I feel like I'm going crazy.”

“Maybe you're worrying too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know. Like, you're always thinking about her. Worrying about her.”

“That's because I care about her.”

“But you can't uproot the rest of your life just for her. She can do things on her own, you know. She's not helpless.”

“I know that. I never said she was helpless. I just get... I don't know. I feel like if I'm not with her, she'll... it sounds stupid when I say it.”

“What?”

Mike sighs. “I feel like she'll forget about me.”

“Why would she forget about you?”

“I don't know. It's stupid. I think I'm just going crazy.” When Will doesn't answer, Mike laughs quietly and nudges him. “Well, hey, if we're both going crazy, we'll go crazy together, right?... Wow, that feels like ages ago. Remember Halloween?”

Will huffs. “How could I forget?”

“Yeah, you're right. God, I can't believe after everything that happened, the Mind Flayer, the demodogs... that now we're worrying about stuff like girls and going to the mall and sneaking into movies.”

The Mind Flayer. Will's stomach flips when he thinks about it. Should he tell Mike about the feeling he had earlier? He doesn't want to worry Mike more though, especially if it's nothing.

He can feel Mike watching him from the corner of his eye. “Do you ever wonder what we would be like now if you hadn't got lost in the Upside Down?” Mike asks.

Will shrugs. “Sure. We'd still be losers. You just wouldn't have a girlfriend.”

Mike guffaws, shoving Will playfully. “Wow, alright. Thanks.”

The two of them laugh, Will batting Mike's hand away when he goes to shove him again. The action is useless as Mike grabs Will's wrists, wrestling against him. Will tries to sit up to get an advantage over Mike, but Mike pushes him back, pinning Will down and moving on top of him. “You won't get away that easily!” Mike chuckles.

Trying to ignore the tingling from Mike's touch and the way he's looking down on him, Will pouts. “Ah, c'mon, that's no fair! You're a whole head taller than me.”

“So what?”

“So you've got the advantage.”

Mike huffs. “That's bull. You're not at any disadvantage.” At that, he loosens his grip on Will's wrists, raising an eyebrow as if challenging him to make a move. Will yanks his hands up, grabbing the front of Mike's shirt to throw him off of him, but Mike is too quick. He dodges Will's hands, takes him by the shoulders, and flips them both over so that Will is hovering above Mike. Will is frozen, too stunned to move. His heart flutters seeing Mike's flushed face, freckled and pink, below him. It takes everything in him not to blurt out how much he wants to kiss him. He shivers when Mike leans up to his ear and whispers, “Now who's at a disadvantage?”

Panicking, Will pulls free of Mike's grip and falls to the side, lying in the same spot on the bed he was in before. His chest rises and falls quickly, and he sees that Mike's does, too.

“We don't hang out like we used to,” Will says.

Mike sits up on his elbows. “What do you mean?”

“Dungeons & Dragons. The arcade. We don't do those things anymore.”

“That's not true... we still play D&D and go to the arcade.”

“Barely.”

“Do you want to?”

“What do you think, Mike? I've been suggesting we play D&D all summer.”

“Well, we've just been busy.”

“Just you and Eleven, and always with each other. Never the rest of us.”

“That's not true! And besides, Lucas and Max are always with each other.”

“But they actually spend time with us. They don't run off together when we're all hanging out, and they let us come with them on their movie dates.”

“You know El can't go to the movies. It's too crowded.”

“You know that's not what I meant.”

“Why do you hate El so much?”

Will scoffs. “I don't hate El! You just don't let her hang out with the rest of us. I barely know her enough to hate her.”

“ _I_ don't let her hang out with you guys? I help keep her safe! It's too dangerous if she goes to the mall or in town with us. If you want to get to know her so badly, you can go to her house on your own.”

“Okay, fine. Forget I said anything.”

“Will?” The mattress shifts as Mike turns towards him. “When did we start fighting this much?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You seem angry at me.”

“I'm not angry.”

“But you seem angry.”

“Mike, stop. Seriously, I'm not angry at you.”

“But we do keep fighting.”

A sigh escapes Will's lips. “Maybe that's a part of growing up.”

“Fighting? No, it's not.” Mike pauses. “I think differently when I'm with you, too.”

“What?”

“Well... never mind.”

Will sits up, staring at Mike's tired eyes. “No, what were-”

Footsteps down the hall. Lucas comes into the room, towel wrapped around his waist. He nods to Will. “Have any clothes I can borrow?”

Will glances around for the pajamas he'd left on the bed, finds them beside Mike, and throws a pair to Lucas. He tries to catch Mike's eye, but Mike seems to be observing the patterns on Will's bed sheets.

After changing into pajamas, they get ready to sleep since it's nearing midnight, Will in his bed, Mike on the floor beside his bed, and Lucas on the floor by the foot of his bed. Will traces patterns in the ceiling, listening to the stillness in the air and the steady breathing of his friends. He shuts his eyes, but his mind is too loud to drift off to sleep. He can't help thinking of what Mike told him. _I think differently when I'm with you, too._ What did he mean by that? Think differently in what way? Will reminds himself that Mike probably didn't mean anything by it. That he just meant since they've been friends so long, they were different than with, say, friends that only met a year ago. But the thought still nags at him. What was Mike about to say before Lucas walked into the room? Will shakes his head, telling himself it wasn't anything important, that he should be grateful Mike and Lucas are here and can help him, Dustin, Steve, and Robin at the mall tomorrow morning. Yet something about the way Mike was acting today seemed... different. Sighing, Will turns over, shutting his eyes and willing himself to get some sleep.


	15. What Are You Doing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike wakes Will up to talk.

Will is laying in bed, his eyes closed yet his mind wide awake, for what feels like hours when shuffling beside him startles his eyes open. He glances about the room and nearly has a heart attack at the sight of Mike kneeling next to his bed, staring directly at him.

“Jesus, Mike,” Will whispers. “What are you doing?”

Mike gives him a look saying _I didn't mean to scare you._ “Sorry, can we talk?”

Will sits up. “Now? About what?”

Mike shakes his head. “Not here. In the other room.”

Confused, Will glances at Lucas, who's fast asleep, then back to Mike, whose expression he can't read, especially in the darkness of the room. His heart jumps in his throat when Mike grasps his hand, tugging him slightly. Sighing, Will gets up and follows Mike out of his bedroom and into the living room, the two of them taking a seat on the couch.

“What did you want to talk about?” Will asks.

Mike shrugs.

“Why'd you wake me up and drag me here then?”

Mike smirks. “Oh, c'mon, I didn't wake you up. You never fell asleep.”

“That's not the point.”

“I was scared you wouldn't talk to me ever again.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“After our fight, and what you said to me over the Supercom. That you didn't want to talk to me.”

Rubbing his eyes, Will sighs in exasperation. “That's not what I meant, Mike. I just didn't want to talk to you just then.”

“Yeah, but I got scared.”

“You didn't have to be.”

“ _But I was._ ”

“Okay?” Will isn't sure what else to say. Mike's features are unmoving, so he can't figure out what Mike's point is.

“Will, I don't... I don't want to lose you ever again.” Mike puts up his hand as Will opens his mouth to say something. “Wait, just let me say this... I just – I wasn't thinking properly in the mall yesterday. All I could think about was El and what would El want and what would make El forgive me, but I – just let me tell you this, please – I didn't think the way I usually think when I'm with you. I guess it's because she was there, and I just get a certain way with her. And I know I'm not making a lot of sense, but when I'm around you, I feel better. It's just that yesterday... like I said, I was going a bit crazy and wasn't acting like I want to act when I'm with you. That's why I was so scared you wouldn't want to talk to me again. Because you really, really mean a lot to me, Will, and ever since I met you, you've made me feel _good_ about myself.”

Will is stunned into silence. Mike was never one to shy away from showing his feelings towards people, but after their rough start to summer, Will is shocked that Mike still felt anything towards him at all. He thinks about what Steve told him earlier today. _If you tell him how you feel, I'm sure he'll understand._

“What are you thinking about, Will?” Mike asks, his eyebrows furrowing. The couch cushion shifts under his weight as he scoots closer.

“Mike,” Will says, “I have to tell you something.”

Mike nods. _Go ahead._

Taking a breath, Will folds his hands on his knees and starts, “The reason I got so angry at you yesterday was because all you would talk about was El, and you've been like that all summer.”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

Will shakes his head. “No, you don't know. I've been so angry about that because... because I was jealous.”

Mike doesn't seem to react, so Will goes on. “After everything that happened with the Mind Flayer last year, I guess I just expected you to always... be there... I don't know. It's just, I didn't think things would change so fast, and when they did, I wasn't ready for it.”

Mike puts a hand up to Will's cheek, startling him. “I'm still here,” Mike says. “I know I haven't been around for you lately, but I promise, from now on, I'll always be here.”

A smile appears on Will's face which Mike reciprocates, and Will feels his stomach flutter. “You really promise?”

“Of course.” Mike brushes his knuckles over Will's cheek. The touch is light, but it makes Will's ears turn pink. He hopes Mike doesn't notice his blushing.

“Mike...” Will says quietly.

Mike's voice is barely a whisper. “Yeah?”

He can't think of what to say. His mind is foggy, and all he can think about is how close Mike is to him.

Running his hand slowly through Will's hair, Mike glances at Will's lips before looking into his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah... yeah, I'm fine.”

The corners of Mike's mouth turn up in a smile, and he traces his thumb on Will's bottom lip. His heart pounding in his ears, Will leans forward barely an inch, stopping in case he's reading the moment wrong, but Mike leans forward as well. Breathing in, Will shuts his eyes and closes the gap between them.

They bump noses at first, and Will almost pulls away, but Mike snakes his hand to the back of Will's neck and brings him forward again, this time tilting their heads slightly to the side. The kiss is slow, gentle. Will sighs into Mike, his heart pounding so loud in his ears, he wouldn't be surprised if Mike can hear it, too. Mike trails a hand down Will's side, curling it around his waist and drawing him closer. Will tentatively places his hands around Mike's neck and can feel Mike relax under his touch, pressing harder against Will's mouth.

A door opens in the hall. Mike goes tense under Will's hands and leaps backwards on the couch, practically throwing Will off of him. “What are you doing?” Mike hisses, panic all over his face.

Stunned, Will opens his mouth to defend himself, but no words come out.

“Will? Mike? Where'd you guys go?” Lucas's voice echoes from the hallway.

Will's throat is shrinking. He can't think straight. Did he read the situation wrong? Did he gross Mike out? Make Mike realize what a disgusting person he is? Did he just destroy his friendship with Mike? Will can't breathe. His lungs seem to be betraying him, and his chest is tightening around him. He can't bare to look at Mike, so he bolts off the couch and out the front door.


	16. Castle Byers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will goes to Castle Byers.

Rain batters down on Will as he runs through the woods, his socks soaking up mud. When he'd run out of the house, he completely forgot to put on his shoes and is now cursing himself for this. Despite his wet feet, he doesn't turn back.

The moment he reaches Castle Byers, he throws himself on the blankets inside, pounding his fists on the ground. Mike's face flashes in his head, the look of resent written all over him and his voice, seething, _What are you doing?_ Will's stomach lurches. “So stupid...” he growls at himself. Beside him, he grabs a photograph of him and his friends from last Halloween, all of them in their Ghostbusters costumes. He remembers laughing and having a great time trick-or-treating before he saw the Mind Flayer, then he remembers going back to Mike's place afterwards. _We'll go crazy together._ So much for that. He's ruined it now by kissing Mike. Mike will never want to be his friend again. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Will mutters, ripping the photograph in half and throwing it on the ground. He spots the baseball bat in the corner, grabs it, and goes outside. He winces at the cold rain hitting his skin and turns towards Castle Byers. Mike's bitter voice is in his head. “Stupid!” he screams, smashing the bat down on the roof of his castle. The sticks crack. He smashes it again. And again. And again. Crying. His chest is tight, and his stomach heaves. His bat collides with the castle again, crunching wood. His throat is sore from screaming, but he continues, tears mixing in with the rain falling down his cheeks.

“Will!” A nearby shout startles him. Mike races up to him from out of the darkness, completely drenched. “Will, what are you doing?”

Ignoring Mike, Will bashes the roof of Castle Byers in. He clenches his jaw to keep from sobbing. He lifts the bat again, but Mike seizes Will's shoulder. “Will, I'm sorry! Please, stop! I was being stupid!”

Will yanks himself away, swinging the bat at the castle once more. “Stop!” Mike shouts, lurching forward and grabbing at Will to tear the bat out of his hands. “Will, stop it! Please, put the bat down!”

“Go away!”

“No, stop it, Will!” Mike clutches Will's wrists. “ _Let go!_ ”

The two boys struggle against each other, both of their grips firm on the baseball bat. Will yanks his whole body back, hoping the force will tear the bat out of Mike's hands, but instead, they both slip on the muddy ground, falling ontop of each other.

“Will, c'mon!” Mike pleads, his hands still clasping the bat as he tries to get to his feet. “Just give me the bat!”

“No! Go away!”

Mike lets go of the bat, causing Will the fall back in the mud. “Will, I'm sorry.”

“I said go away, Mike!” Will brings his knees up to his chest, sobbing into them. Mike leans down, trying to wrap his arms around Will, but he lets out a cry when Will rams his arm with the bat. He backs away from Will, holding his arm, and Will drops the bat, panic and concern falling over his face. Will jumps to his feet, stepping towards Mike. “I'm sorry!” Will raises his hand to Mike's arm but pulls back quickly, afraid of hurting him anymore.

Mikes looks at Will before throwing his arms around him in a hug, grasping Will's body desperately. “No, Will, I'm sorry.” He hugs him tighter, sobbing. “I'm so, so sorry, Will.”

The two of them stand there, crying in each other's arms until they have no more tears left in them. Mike takes Will's face in his hands and gazes into his eyes. “You shouldn't be sorry for anything. You haven't done anything wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry.”

Will chews his bottom lip, looking away. “No, I hurt you. I just hit you with a baseball bat.”

“I don't care. I deserved it.” Mike gives him a reassuring smile. “Plus, you don't hit very hard.”

“Hey!” Will shoves Mike playfully, and they both start laughing. Will's laugh soon falters, and he slumps his shoulders. “I didn't hurt you?”

Mike shakes his head, clutching Will's hands. “No, not one bit.” He glances at the ruins of Castle Byers. “Why did you do that?”

Will glares at the ground. “Why do you think, Mike?”

Mike pauses, sniffling. “Will, I know I'm an asshole. I know I do stupid things and say stupid things. I know I'm not... I'm not like you -”

“What's that mean?”

Mike takes Will's face in his hands. “I'm selfish. I'm not _nice_ like you are. I'm just... I don't think right, and I know I hurt people. I know I hurt _you_... and I don't want to hurt you.”

“Mike-” Will frowns. “I'm selfish, too. Everyone's selfish. And everyone hurts people. You're not the only one who does things they're not proud of.”

“But I don't want to hurt you,” Mike insists. “After everything that happened. After everything you've been through, I don't want... I don't want to be the reason you're sad or angry or... I don't know.”

“I get sad and angry for plenty of other reasons, Mike.”

“But you destroyed Castle Byers. Because of _me_.”

Will lets out an unsteady breath. “It's not just because of you. I was angry for a lot of reasons.”

“I don't want you to be angry.”

“You can't stop me from feeling things, Mike.”

Silence hangs in the air as Mike looks down, shivering. “I know,” he says quietly, “but I do stupid shit all the time, and I don't want you getting hurt from it.”

“Then stop doing stupid shit.” Will gives Mike a reassuring smile when he looks at him.

Shaking his head and sighing, Mike slings an arm around Will's shoulders. “C'mon, let's get back inside.”

They walk in silence, covered in mud and rain and tears, neither of them mentioning their kiss, but it's all Will can think of.

Lucas is on them the moment they get back to Will's house. “What happened? Are you okay, Will?”

Will nods. “Yeah, fine.”

“Where were you guys? What happened? You just left without a word!”

Mike put his hands up defensively. “I know, Lucas. Calm down. We had another fight, but we're fine now.”

“Seriously?” Lucas rolls his eyes. “Enough fighting. And enough running off without saying where you're going. I seriously thought something bad happened to you.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Sorry, Lucas,” Will adds.

Lucas shrugs. “It's fine. Just tell me what's going on next time before you run off without me.”

The three of them head to Will's room, Mike and Will having to change their clothes and shower since they got soaked in the rain and drenched in mud. It's almost two in the morning when the boys get to bed, Will wondering what tomorrow will hold.


	17. The Middle of the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will finds El and Max to tell them some important news.

Will wakes up with a start, grabbing his chest as he struggles to breathe. Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong. He should have known by the feeling of dread he'd felt in the car last night. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tries to remember what woke him up. A nightmare, but it was something more. The back of his neck tingles. Glancing around in the darkness of the room, he squints at the clock and realizes it's still night time. Four in the morning to be exact.

Still struggling to take a steady breath, Will staggers to his feet, barely missing Mike's head on the floor. He leans down and shakes him lightly. “Mike? Mike, wake up.”

Mike groans and rolls over, still asleep.

Will sighs, not wanting to disturb him anymore. He doesn't want to worry him in the middle of the night especially after everything that happened. He knows who he needs to talk to. Quickly changing into a shirt and shorts, this time remembering to put on his shoes as well, he leaves the house as quietly as possible.

He rides his bike unsteadily down the road, shivering in the chilly night air. He thinks back to the night before, when Steve nearly crashed the car into Max and Eleven. Eleven mentioned she was going to Max's house, so he's hoping that's where they are now.

The brakes of Will's bike screech to a halt as he jumps off in Max's driveway. He runs around the house, peering through the windows until he spots Max and Eleven sleeping in a bed. Will knocks on the window frantically. El jolts awake, staring terrified out the window. When she spots Will, her face softens, and she shakes Max awake.

Max raises her eyebrows at Will. He motions her to come over, and she opens the window. “What are you doing here, Will? It's the middle of the night.”

“It's important.”

El sits up in the bed.

“Can I come in?” Will asks.

“Yeah,” Max says, “but you can go through the front door. We're home alone.” She closes the window, so Will heads back to the front of the house and waits by the door. Max opens it and lets him in. She points at his muddy shoes. “You can leave those by the door.”

After taking off his shoes, Will follows Max back to her room, where El is sitting on the edge of the bed. Max sits beside her.They stare at Will patiently, waiting for an explanation of why he's there.

“The Mind Flayer,” Will says. “I think he's back.”

El leans forward on her knees, aghast. “I closed the gate.”

“I know. I can't really explain it, but I just know he's back.”

Max throws her arms up. “Wait a second. Where are Mike and Lucas then? Do they know about this?”

“They're at my house.”

“Your house? Why aren't you with them?”

“Because I have to tell you about the Mind Flayer.”

“You told them, though, right?”

Will pauses before he shakes his head, realizing how dumb he seems right now.

“What? Why didn't you tell them? What are they doing?”

“I figured if they came with me, you wouldn't want to talk to us. And also... they're asleep. I didn't want to wake them.”

Max crosses her arms. “Then why'd you wake us?”

“Because this is important,” Will tries. His mind is too jumbled to think properly, so he's not sure what else to say.

“Will,” Max says, “are we in imminent danger?”

“What?”

“I mean, if we try to, you know, _get some sleep_ , will we be dead in the morning?”

Will huffs. “No, but-”

“Then can we please go to sleep? I'm tired as hell, and we can always talk about it in the morning.”

Will eyes Max who just stares him down. He sighs then shrugs. “Fine, but we have to talk about it.”

Max smiles and hops to her feet. “Alright, good. I'll grab you some blankets from the closet, and you can sleep here.” She skips out of the room, far too happy after what Will just told them.

“Will,” El says softly, and Will turns to look at her, “are you okay?”

“Not really? The Mind Flayer returning isn't something I'm happy about.”

El shakes her head. “No, I mean... with Mike and Lucas.”

“What?” A sudden wave of fear falls over Will. Does El know something? Can she somehow tell what happened with him and Mike?

“I saw them the other day going to your house trying to say sorry to you, but you weren't there. Then they started talking about me and Max, saying we were another species?”

Will blinks. “You saw them?”

“Yeah, I...”

“You were spying?”

El stares down at her hands uncomfortably.

“Sorry, I'm not accusing you. It's sort of funny, actually.” Will shrugs. “I'm fine, though. We just had a fight, but they apologized... Are you okay? I know you and Mike had that fight.”

El gazes at the bedspread. “I'm fine.”

“You were right, though,” Will says.

“About what?”

“Mike shouldn't have lied to you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But he does care about you.” Will wrings his hands together. “He really does.”

El frowns. “But why did he lie? He says friends don't lie, but he lied anyway.”

“It's more complicated than that.”

“How?”

“You'll have to talk to Mike.”

“Does Mike lie to you?”

“Well... sometimes probably, but no, not really.” Seeing El's face fall, he rushes to add, “It's different with us than with you.”

“Why?”

“You're his girlfriend.”

“So? Why does it have to be different? Why does he lie to me and not to you?”

“Because... I don't know.” Will runs a hand through his hair. “Because dating is different than just being friends. Still, he shouldn't have lied to you.”

“Do you lie to who you date?”

“Oh... I'm not dating anyone.”

“I know, but if you were, would you lie?”

Will shakes his head. “Not if I could help it.” Surprising El and himself, he places his hand on her's. “Friends don't lie, and neither do boyfriends or girlfriends. If they do, don't let them get away with it.”

El and Will share a smile before Max walks back in the room, tossing Will a pile of blankets and hopping onto the bed. Will sets up his blankets on the floor, and just as he's pulling the covers over himself, he curses, slapping a hand on his forehead.

Max and El look down at him. “Are you alright?” Max asks.

Will pinches the bridge of his nose, grumbling. “I forgot my Supercom.”

“Oh, that's fine. I've got mine.”

This calms Will a bit, letting him lie back down. He makes a plan in his head for the next morning. He'll radio Mike and Lucas, and tell them to meet him, Max, El, and Dustin at the mall at nine, where he'll tell everyone about the Mind Flayer.


	18. The New Host

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will tells Max and El about the Mind Flayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the feedback! It's great and really helpful:)

Will wakes up to the sun glaring in at him through the window. He sits up, stretching, before realizing he's not in his own bed. He's on the floor, and on the bed next to him are Max and Eleven. Max is showing Eleven a comic while brushing her hair. Will rubs his eyes, groaning. He goes to check his watch, but it's not there. He must have left it at his house. “What time is it?”

Max glances at her watch. “Twelve fifteen.”

Will jolts up. “What?! Why didn't you wake me up?”

She makes a face at him. “You never told us to wake you. Do you have to be somewhere? ”

Will groans. “I was supposed to meet Dustin at the mall at nine, and Mike and Lucas don't know I'm here. Can I use your Supercom to tell them what's going on?”

Max shrugs. “Well, since you're here, what's the rush? You can tell Mike and Lucas after you've explained to us what's going on.”

El leans over her shoulder and looks at Will. “You were going to tell us about the Mind Flayer.”

Will folds his arms. “But Mike and Lucas are probably wondering where I am. If they go to the mall looking for me, and Dustin doesn't know where I am either, they're going to get worried.”

“They can wait,” Max insists, boring her eyes into Will's. “I'm not letting you use my Supercom until you tell us what's going on.”

“Why not?”

“Because you came here to tell us about the Mind Flayer, and it's your own fault for not telling Mike and Lucas that you're here.”

Will sighs, running a hand through his hair before giving in and taking a seat on the side of Max's bed. “Okay, well, I was thinking that maybe the part of the Mind Flayer that was in me last year, somehow got locked out here with us after you closed the gate.”

“How do you even know it's here?” Max asks.

“I guess... I sort of get this feeling whenever he's close.”

“What kind of feeling?”

“Like... have you ever dropped on a roller coaster?”

“Yeah,” Max says.

“No,” says El.

“Well, it's sort of like that... like everything in your body is just sinking, all at once. Only this is worse. A lot worse. Your body... it goes cold, and you can't breathe. I... I felt it first at Day of the Dead, then again in the field when we were putting up Cerebro, and yesterday in Steve's car right before we ran into you.”

“But how is it here again?” El asks.

Will pauses, thinking. “A part of it attached itself to me, that day in the field at school. My mom got it out of me, and you closed the gate... but what if that part that was still in me is still in our world? In Hawkins.”

“I don't understand,” Max says. “The demodogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies. How is it still alive?”

“I can't explain it exactly, but if he's back, that means he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me.”

Max looks at El who leans forward. “How do we know who it's attached itself to?” El asks.

“Assuming we would even know the person, they would probably be acting different. The Mind Flayer, he likes it cold, so whoever is his new host would do whatever they can to avoid the heat.”

Max and El glance at each other knowingly.

“What is it?” Will asks.

“I think we might know who the new host is,” El says.

“Really? Who?”

Max puts a hand on El's shoulder. “We don't know for sure.”

“If we bring you to him,” El says to Will, “can you tell if he's the host?”

“I – I don't know. I guess I'd have to see.” Will runs a hand through his hair. He really needs to talk to Mike, Lucas, and Dustin.

El nudges Max who slides off the bed. “Alright, here's the deal.” Max reaches under her bed and pulls something out. Her walkie-talkie. She dodges away from Will, turning it off and keeping it out of his reach. “Okay, so I'll let you use this _after_ we take you to who we think the host is.”

“What? Why?”

“No offense, but I find it weird that you came here without Mike and Lucas. So just in case you're planning something, like a prank or whatever, I'm only letting you use my Supercom once we've figured out if he's really the host.” She sticks a hand up when Will protests. “Hey, if you needed to get in contact with Mike and Lucas so badly, you shouldn't have forgotten your Supercom or at least told them where the hell you were going.”

Will groans. “This isn't a stupid prank.”

“Okay, good. So this shouldn't be too hard then.” Max motions El to get off the bed. “Shall we?”

The three of them get on their bikes – El riding with Max on her's – and head down the street, Will following the girls reluctantly. He was supposed to meet Dustin over three hours ago.

“Who is it we're looking for anyway?” Will asks.

“Max's brother, Billy,” El replies.

“Really?”

Max frowns. “We don't know for sure.”

When they get to the parking lot outside the pool, they get off their bikes and hide behind a car as they peer through the gate.

“There. On the lifeguard chair,” Max says, pointing.

Their eyes lock on Billy, lounging on his lifeguard chair by the pool, decked out in sunglasses and a long sleeved shirt with a towel draped over his legs and an ICEE in his hand.

“What do you think?” El asks.

Will raises an eyebrow. “I don't know. I mean, he looks a bit odd, doesn't he?”

“What do you mean?” asks Max.

“He seems a bit... overdressed?”

Max furrows her eyebrows.

“What I mean is,” Will says, “he hardly ever wears a shirt, and it's over a hundred degrees out now, so I don't get why he's got a shirt on, plus a towel.”

“Huh...” Max looks back at Billy, analyzing him. “You're not wrong. It is a bit weird.”

“You think he's the host?” El asks.

Will crosses his arms, squinting at Billy. There's an echo in the back of his head, like he's feeling the Mind Flayer's presence from a distance. “I can't tell for sure. Have you seen him doing anything else weird?”

Max and El glance at each other. “Well,” Max says, “we found bags of melted ice in our bathtub and another lifeguard's bag and whistle in our bathroom.”

“With blood on it,” El adds. “And I saw... I saw the girl he works with whose bag and whistle it was. Billy was standing over her, and she was screaming... and I saw her again. She told me to help her and got pulled down in a bath of ice.”

Will frowns. “Okay, that's definitely weird.”

“But he's lounging at the pool,” Max says, “which is, like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever.”

“Not necessarily. The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me. It's like... like you're dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated.”

“Okay, so we just wait until he gets activated.”

Will shakes his head. “No, we can't wait. What if he kills someone?”

“But what do we do then?”

“We need... we need to make sure he's actually the host.”

“Yeah, I get that, but how?”

Groaning, Will puts his face in his hands. “I don't know... we need to... Wait, Max, can I use your Supercom?”

“What for?”

Will sighs. “If we're going to figure out if Billy's the host, we'll need help. Seriously, I need to tell Mike, Lucas, and Dustin eventually, so why not now because we really need a plan. And you said I could use it after I come here.”

Max rolls her eyes and gives Will the walkie-talkie. “I said you could use it once we figure out if Billy's the host, but alright. Here.”

Will turns on the walkie-talkie quickly and says into it, “Dustin! Dustin, you there?”

Static. Then a crackling voice. “Will?”

“Yeah, it's me. Over.”

“Will! Jesus, where the hell have you been?” Dustin says. “We've been waiting for you for hours, and Mike and Lucas have been looking everywhere for you. Over.”

“Mike and Lucas? They're with you? Over.”

“Well, they were, but then they went to Max's to find El, so she can look for you. Max wasn't answering her Supercom. Over.”

“Max and El are with me! We're at the pool-”

“The pool? What are you doing there? I told you to meet me at nine a.m. sharp! Over.”

“I'll explain later. Just wait at Scoops for me. I'll be there soon. Over and out.” Will switches the channels on the walkie-talkie. “Mike? Hello, Mike? It's Will, you there?”

Will jerks the walkie-talkie away from his ear when a shout breaks through it. “Will!” Mike answers. “Oh my god! Where have you been? I mean, where are you now? I – we were worried sick! Are you okay? What's going on? Over.”

“It's fine, Mike, I'm okay,” Will says, “but it's very important that you meet me at Scoops Ahoy right away. Over.”

“You're at Scoops now? We were just there. Over.”

“No, I'm on my way. Over.”

“Okay, but what's going on? Where were you? Over.”

“I'll explain there. Really. This is serious, so can you and Lucas meet me there? Over.”

“Yeah, alright. We're on our way. Over and out.”

Will tosses Max her walkie-talkie back. They hop on their bikes, riding as fast as they can to the mall.


	19. What About the Russians?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, El, and Max meet Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve at Scoops to discuss the Mind Flayer.

As Will and Max put their bikes in the bike rack, Will catches sight of Mike's and Lucas's. “C'mon, hurry. They're already here,” Will tells El and Max, rushing into the mall.

The three of them make their way through the crowd and into Scoops Ahoy. The moment Will sets foot inside the store, he's engulfed in a tight hug from Mike. “Will! We were so worried,” Mike pulls away when he sees Max and El over Will's shoulder. “What's going on?”

Lucas, Dustin, and Steve are hovering behind Mike. Will motions them to follow him and heads to the back room. “I didn't think it was anything at first,” Will starts as everyone gathers around the table. “I first felt it at Day of the Dead, then at the field by Nelson's farm when Dustin came back, and then last night, in Steve's car.”

“Felt what?” Lucas asks.

“It's like everything goes cold. You can't breathe. I felt it whenever he was around.”

“Who?” Steve asks.

“The Mind Flayer.”

A heaviness falls over the group. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Steve stare at Will in disbelief. “The Mind Flayer?” Lucas shakes his head. “You mean... it's back?”

Will nods glumly. “Yeah.”

“And we think he has a new host,” El adds.

“Wait a second.” Steve puts his hands up. “I thought you closed the gate. Didn't that kill the everything from the Upside Down?”

“We thought so,” Will says, “but all I know is he's back, and we have to stop him.”

“Who's the new host?” Dustin asks.

“We think it might be Billy, but we're not sure.”

Max stares solemnly at the ground. Lucas looks to her. “Your brother?” he asks.

She frowns. “I don't know if he's the host or not. We'll have to find out somehow.”

“How do we do that?”

“We've been trying to figure that out,” Will says. “We went to see him at the pool, and he definitely didn't look normal. He had a shirt on and a towel, like he was trying to keep the sun off him. Problem is, we don't know how to make sure it's really him who's the new host, and what to do once we do know.”

“You said he was at the pool?” Mike asks.

“Yeah.”

“I think I have an idea. Follow me.” He gets up and starts towards the door. Everyone but Dustin begins to follow.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dustin hollers. Everyone stops and looks back at him. He eyes Will. “What about the Russians?”

Will's eyebrows furrow. “What _about_ the Russians?”

Dustin throws his arms up. “Don't you think they might have something to do with this?”

Will blinks.

“Do you really think it's just a coincidence that at the same time we discover Russians may be infiltrating Hawkins, the Mind Flayer returns?”

“I don't know. I wasn't really thinking about that.”

“Well, think about it now. We were planning on getting into that secret room by the loading dock, remember? We can't just abandon ship. For all we know, it might have something important pertaining to the Mind Flayer.”

Mike crosses his arms, stepping up to Will's side. “If we don't do something about Billy soon, he could hurt someone. I don't think Russians seem as big a deal as something from the Upside Down. Especially something like the Mind Flayer. I mean, you were there last fall. You saw what it could do.”

“No offense, Mike,” Dustin says, “but if anyone gets to decide what we're doing right now, it's Will.”

Taken aback, Mike narrows his eyes at Dustin. “First of all, why? And second of all, he said so himself, he isn't even thinking about the Russians right now.”

“What do you mean, why? Because he sensed the Mind Flayer's presence in the first place. He found Max and El, got you guys here, and has been investigating the Russians for the past three days with Steve, Robin, and I! I'd say he has a pretty good understanding of what could be at stake here.”

“And the rest of us don't?” Mike shoots back.

“No, Mike! You don't! You haven't been here with us figuring out what these Russians are doing in Hawkins which could be more important than we once thought.” He looks to Will. “Robin said she had an idea about getting into that secret room, and she went out to get something. She'll be back soon, and we can see if what's in that room has anything to do with the Mind Flayer.”

“I don't know...” Will says.

“C'mon, Byers. What are we going to do once we know if Billy's the host or not? We don't know what it's planning, and if the Russians have anything to do with it, we could stop it sooner rather than later.”

Will glances between Mike and Dustin, trying to come to a conclusion. He sighs, looking to Dustin. “Okay, we'll wait until Robin comes back.”

Mike puts a hand on Will's shoulder. “Are you sure?”

Will nods. “Yeah, I'm sure.”

From next to Max, El gives Will an uncertain look. “But you said he could kill someone if we don't do anything soon.”

“I know.” Will glances around to the others. “I think we should wait here until Robin gets back, see what her plan is, then go from there. If Dustin's right, and the Russians do have something to do with the Mind Flayer's return, it's better to check it out than just ignore it. We'll deal with Billy for sure, but we also need to think of the bigger picture here.”

There's a moment of hesitation, mostly from El and Max, but everyone agrees.

“What was your idea, Mike?” Lucas asks.

“Well,” Mike says, “you know in the back of the pool's locker room there's a sauna? Last year, Will's mom got the Mind Flayer out of him with heat since it doesn't like it cold, so I thought if we can get Billy into the sauna -”

“We can burn the Mind Flayer out of him,” Will finishes.

“Exactly.”


	20. Blueprints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and the group wait for Robin to return to Scoops.

Will sits at the table in the back of Scoops Ahoy with Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. Max and El are out in front with Steve, sampling ice cream flavors.

“Why were you with Max and El?” Mike asks Will.

Will watches Mike's expression closely, wondering why his tone felt accusatory. “I needed to tell them about the Mind Flayer.”

“No, I mean, why didn't you tell us first? Why'd you just disappear?”

“Yeah,” Lucas says. “We woke up, and you were gone. We didn't know what to think.”

Will shrugs his shoulders. “I know, I'm sorry. I woke up at four in the morning, and I guess I just didn't want to disturb you.”

“That's bullshit, Will.” Mike crosses his arms. “You disappeared on us, and you didn't even take your Supercom! What did you expect us to think when we woke up?”

“I was going to go back before you woke up and tell you,” Will explains. “I just overslept.”

“You overslept? Why did you go to El and Max without us?”

“I thought it would be easier to go alone.” He puts a hand up before Mike can protest. “Look, I was tired, I wasn't thinking straight, and after everything that happened last night, I didn't want to bother you anymore.”

Dustin looks between Will, Mike, and Lucas. “Everything that happened? What happened?”

A sigh escapes Will's lips. “We just had another fight.”

“Seriously?” Dustin shakes his head. “Why are you guys fighting so much?”

“It's fine, Dustin,” Mike says. “We made up.”

“That reminds me.” Will perks up, looking to Mike. “Did you apologize to him?”

Mike furrows his eyebrows, but Will eyes him, motioning to Dustin. “Oh, right.” Turning to Dustin, Mike sticks out a hand. “Dustin, I'm sorry for running off with El when you got back from camp. It was shitty, and I should've stayed to help build Cerebro.”

Dustin glances at Mike's hand before shaking it. “It's all good, Mike. I'm glad you're here now.”

Lucas nudges Dustin, sticking his hand out to him as well. “I'm sorry, too, Dustin. For leaving you guys. I knew how important getting in contact with Suzie was to you. I should've stayed longer and helped out.”

“It's fine, Lucas.” Dustin shakes his hand. “I know it was a lot to ask you guys to stay out so late there.

“So,” Dustin says after a beat, “did something happen with Max and El?”

Will, Mike, and Lucas exchange confused expressions.

Dustin looks to Mike, then Lucas, and back to Mike. “You and El sort of looked like you were avoiding each other, and Max looked angry at both of you. Not that she isn't most of the time, but still.”

“We're taking a break,” Mike says.

“A break?” Will scoffs. “Sounded like more than a break to me.”

Mike narrows his eyes at Will and taking this as a challenge, Will stares unblinkingly at him, pretending like he hadn't just insulted his friend's relationship.

Dustin clears his throat, drawing Mike's and Will's eyes away from each other. “So, what happened?”

“El dumped his ass,” Will tells him.

Mike shoots daggers at Will's head. “That's because Max is corrupting her. She's trying to turn El against me.”

“Seriously, Mike?”

“Yeah, I am serious, Will. What do you think they're doing right now? They're conspiring against me!”

“That's bullshit!”

“Yeah, it is!” Max shouts through the window from the front of the store. “We can hear everything you're saying, you know!”

The boys hear El and Max burst into giggles. Mike frowns. “See? Conspiring against me.”

Will shakes his head. “You're insane.”

Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all jump in their seats when the door slams open, Robin sailing in with a large paper in her hand. She tilts her head upon seeing Mike and Lucas, but shrugs it off, nodding to Will and Dustin. Steve, Max, and El follow through the door.

“It is fascinating what twenty bucks will get you at the County Recorder's office,” Robins says, opening up the paper and displaying it on the table. “Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints.”

Dustin raises his eyebrows. “Not bad.”

Robin points to a section on the blueprint. “So, this is us, Scoops-” she moves her finger to another section of the blueprint “-and this is where we want to get.”

Steve leans over the table. “I mean, I don't really see a way in.”

“There's not,” Robin says, “if you're talking exclusively about doors.”

Dustin and Will meet eyes as they have the same thought. “Air ducts.”

Robin grins. “Exactly.” She dashes across the room to the dry erase board, grabs a marker, and dashes back to the blueprint. “Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts -” she circles the secret room then draws a line through the blueprints “-lead all the way...” she circles Scoops Ahoy “-here.”


	21. Air Ducts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and the rest of the party try to find someone who will fit in the air ducts.

Steve unscrews the cover of the vent and hands it to Dustin. “Flashlight. Thank you.” He shines the light into the vent. “Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if any of you can fit in here. It's, like, super tight.”

“Let's just try and see,” Will says, stepping up behind Steve.

Steve shrugs, hopping off the ladder and letting Will climb up. Peering into the vent, Will's not sure he can even fit past his shoulders. He ducks in anyway, holding his breath as if that will make him smaller. He's surprised to find he can get his shoulders in until he tries to push forward. His shoulders won't budge. Trying to reposition himself, he ends up slamming his head on the ceiling of the air duct. “Ow!”

“You alright?” Steve calls.

“I think I'm stuck.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yes, Steve. Help me out.”

Steve grabs onto Will's legs, yanks, and pulls him out of the air duct a little too hard, Will toppling onto Steve and both of them ending up on the floor. They groan as they get up, Will rubbing his bruised shoulders.

“Guess you can't fit.” Glancing around at the six younger teenagers, Steve nods to Max. “What about you? I think you're the smallest.”

Max shakes her head quickly. “No way. I'm not going in there.”

“Why not?”

“I never agreed to investigating Russians. I'm just waiting to see if Billy's the new host or not.”

Robin tilts her head. “Billy who? New host?”

“I'll explain later,” Steve says. “Right now, we have to figure out what we're doing.”

Will slumps against the wall next to Mike. “How are we getting to the secret room then if no one can fit in the vents?”

Dustin rolls his eyes. “We'll get into the room. Don't get ahead of yourself. I should've gone first. I can fit.”

“Does it make a difference who goes first?” Steve says. “Like I said, it's super tight. I don't know if any of you can get in there.”

Dustin lifts his head. “I'll fit. Trust me. No collar bones, remember?”

“Uh, excuse me?” Robin says as Dustin climbs up the ladder and into the vent.

“Oh,” Steve says, “he's, uh... yeah, he's got some disease. Chry, uh... it's chrydo, um...”

“Cleidocranial dysplasia,” Will, Mike, and Lucas say in unison.

“Yeah,” Steve says. “He's missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo.”

The boys and Max furrow their eyebrows at this. “You mean Gumby,” Robin says.

Steve makes a face. “I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo.”

“Steve, just shut up and push me!” Dustin calls from the vent where he's got half his body stuffed inside.

Steve turns around to Dustin. “Okay. I'll push you.” He steps up on the ladder and shoves Dustin's legs upward.

“Not my feet dumbass. Push my ass!”

“What?”

“Touch my butt! I don't care!”

Will, Mike, Lucas, Max, and El burst out in laughter while Robin sighs at all of them, rolling her eyes. Distracted by Steve and Dustin's show of idiocy, Will doesn't realize Mike leaning to his ear until he's whispering in it. “I could have helped you up, you know.”

Will wrinkles his nose. “What?”

Mike doesn't reply and is already looking away, staring straight forward at the opposite wall, but Will notices him mouthing “stupid” to himself.

Steve and Dustin continue to bicker, Steve climbing farther up on the ladder and trying to push Dustin into the vent. Will wonders what Mike's words meant. _I could have helped you up, you know_. What had he been getting at? Maybe Will is dwelling too much on meaningless words.

The others can't stop laughing until a bell dings at the counter in front. Robin turns to look out the window.

“Ahoy, sailors!” A girl's voice calls. “All hands on deck! Ahoy!” The dinging of the bell continues. “Come on. Get over here and serve me some samples.”

Lucas raises an eyebrow and looks through the window. “Erica?”

“Lucas? What are you doing here?”

Before Lucas can reply, Robin sticks a hand out in front of him. “That's not important.” She points to Erica. “Can you do something for us?”

Erica glances between Robin and her brother suspiciously. “Depends.”

“Yeah,” Lucas says, eyeing Robin, “depends.”

Robin rolls her eyes, motioning for Erica to come into the back room. Erica obliges, entering swiftly and furrowing her eyebrows when she realizes how many people are in the room. “The hell?”

“So, the thing is-” Robin points to the open vent in which Dustin is climbing out of. “-we need to know if you can fit in there.”

Erica crosses her arms. “Why?”

Steve steps forward. “We think Russians may be hiding something in a secret room here in the mall and going through those vents is the only way to get in.”

Erica glances up at the vent. “Lemme see.”

Steve hands her a flashlight, and she climbs up the ladder, peering inside. After a moment of looking around, she gets down the ladder. “I don't know.”

“You don't know if you can fit?” Dustin asks.

“Oh, no,” Erica says, shaking her head, “I can fit. I just don't know if I want to.”

Robin crosses her arms. “Are you claustrophobic?”

“I don't have phobias.”

“Okay,” Steve says, “well, what's the problem?”

“The problem is I still haven't heard what's in this _for Erica_.”

As Robin, Steve, and Dustin narrow their eyes at her, Will pushes himself off the wall and steps in front of her. She raises an eyebrow at him. “What? Is glory not good enough for you?”

“Glory?”

“Yes, glory. If you do this for us, you could very well save all of Hawkins.”

Erica rolls her eyes. “Listen here, nerd, I don't think you fully comprehend what I would be sacrificing in order to crawl inside some stupid vent. It's summer. I have places to be, and things to do.”

“Like what?” Robin scoffs. “You've been coming here every day to leech ice cream samples off of us.”

“I'm still not hearing what I get out of it.”

Will catches Steve's eye and mouths the words “ice cream” to him. Steve's eyebrows furrow before his expression changes to one of comprehension.


	22. Look-out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erica makes a deal. Some of the party is reluctant about the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the feedback!

“This is a bad idea,” Lucas says, leaning back on the counter with his arms crossed. Will and Mike are beside him, watching Dustin, Robin, and Steve talking to Erica at a table covered in bowls of ice cream, while Max and El are in the back room of Scoops.

Will shrugs his shoulders. “She's the only one who can fit.”

“It's still a bad idea. My parents will kill me if they find out I let her crawl around the mall's air ducts to find out if there are Russians hiding out here.”

“Then don't let them find out,” Mike says.

Steve trudges past them and gets behind the counter to scoop out another bowl of ice cream.

“What are we even doing once she gets into the room?” Lucas goes on. “We can't all just go in there.”

“I think we should be focusing on the Mind Flayer.” Mike looks at Will. “Billy could be killing people right now for all we know. Is getting into this room really worth it?”

“We won't know until we see it,” Will says. “What if the Russians reopened the gate? That could be the whole reason they're in Hawkins. If we close the gate, we kill the Mind Flayer.”

“We don't know that the gate's even open.”

Lucas sticks up his hand. “That would explain why the Mind Flayer's back though, wouldn't it? I mean, think about it... if the Russians opened the gate, that could be what brought the Mind Flayer back to life here.”

“Okay,” Mike says, “but even if the gate is open, what are we supposed to do about it? We don't even know where it is.”

“If we figure out what the Russians are doing,” Will says, “and if they really did reopen the gate, then we just have to find out where it is. That shouldn't be too hard. Plus, we have El. Once we find the gate, she can close it.”

Mike taps the pads of his fingers on his bottom lip. “We still have to deal with Billy.”

“I know.”

“I just really think we should deal with him as soon as possible.”

“I know, Mike.”

“I think we should split up.”

Will and Lucas both turn their heads at this. “What?”

“If we wait around to get into the room, we're risking people's lives by not figuring out if Billy's the host or not. He could kill people while we're just sitting around, doing nothing!”

“We're not doing nothing,” Will insists. “This could be bigger than just Billy. This-”

“You said to wait for Robin to get back, and then we would figure out what to do. Well, she's back, and you still haven't told us what you want to do.”

“I want to figure out what the Russians have to do with this. And yes, I know we have to get to Billy, but-”

“That's why we should split up!” Mike points to Dustin, Robin, and Erica. “They can check out the secret room or whatever while _we_ get the Mind Flayer out of Billy, if it's even in him at all which we won't know unless we do something about it.”

Lucas frowns. “Mike, calm down. It's only, like, four thirty. The pool doesn't close for another four-five hours, so we still have time to make a plan for both getting into that room and getting Billy into the sauna.”

Mike huffs, staring at Will. “I thought the Mind Flayer was your number one priority.”

“It is.” The weight of Mike's stare makes Will want to curl up inside himself. “That's the reason why I think we need to investigate the Russians as well as getting Billy into the sauna. If the gate has been reopened, closing it is the way to get rid of the Mind Flayer, and I know we don't know for sure whether or not the gate's been opened, but that's why we need to check it out. So that we do know. And we will go after Billy, too, because if he's the new host, we'll have to get the Mind Flayer out of him anyway. But for now, I just need you to wait until we secure our plan for getting into the room.”

There's a moment where Will is sure Mike's about to walk away from him. His eyes are boring into Will's like lasers, but then his face softens. Sighing, Mike motions to Erica, Dustin, and Robin. “Why are they talking so much anyway?”

Stepping out from behind the counter, Steve says, “She's hard to convince.” He nudges Will. “Hey, Byers, instead of standing here and doing nothing, why don't give me a hand?” He shoves a bowl of ice cream in Will's hand and heads to the table. Will looks to Mike and Lucas who both shrug their shoulders. Letting out a sigh, he follows Steve reluctantly.

“We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time--” Robin is saying as Will slides into the booth beside her, and Steve leaves to get more ice cream.

Erica waves her hand in front of Robin, interrupting her. “Child endangerment.” She rolls her eyes when Will pushes the bowl of ice cream Steve had shoved in his hands in her direction.

“Erica?” Dustin says. Erica eyes him. “Hi. Uh... We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?”

“You can't spell 'America' without 'Erica.'”

Dustin and Will share a look saying _what the hell_. Erica grabs a smoothie in front of her and starts slurping it loudly. Will puts his face in his hands while Dustin looks down at the table. “Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, _so_ , don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man.”

“Do this,” Will adds, “and you can be a hero.”

Dustin snaps his fingers. “An American hero.” He leans forward. “Do this for America... Erica.”

Erica stops her slurping, shaking her shoulders. “Ooh!” She sets her smoothie down. “I just got the chills.” Dustin and Will grin until she adds, “Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech.

“Know what I love most about this country?” Erica glances between Will, Dustin, and Robin. “Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?”

“C'mon, Erica,” Will says.

Erica tilts her head at him. “Don't you 'c'mon' me. I don't have to do anything for you if I don't want to.”

Robin leans back in the booth, letting out a groan. “Okay, we get it, but what do you want then?”

“This is a free market system,” Erica says, “which means people get paid for their services depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all.”

Dustin breathes out loudly, scowling, and Will buries his face in his hands again.

“So, you want my help?” Erica points to a bowl of ice cream on the table. “This _USS_ Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream _for life_.”

Robin takes a second to consider this deal while Will taps his knuckles on the table impatiently. The more time that passes by, the more anxious he feels about getting into the secret room and getting Billy into the sauna. He hides his relief when Robin nods her head and shakes Erica's hand. “Okay. Deal.”

“So what's the plan exactly?” Will asks once Steve has joined them at the table. “We go to the loading dock, Erica gets the secret room open, then what?”

“We check it out,” Dustin says.

“All of us?”

“I don't see why not.”

“Don't we need look-outs? You know, to make sure the Russians don't find us snooping around.”

Robin shrugs. “Yeah, that would be a smart idea.”

“So?” Will lifts a shoulder. “Who should be the look-outs?”

“Not me. I'm definitely checking out that secret room.”

Dustin and Steve shake their heads. “Me neither.”

Will sighs. “Alright, I guess I'll be a look-out.”

The door to the back room bangs open. Will, Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica whip their heads around to see Mike standing by the counter. Lucas, Max, and El are hovering behind him. He motions at Will to come over.

“What is it?” Will asks when he joins them.

Mike's voice is low. “We were wondering when we're going to start this plan with the air ducts.”

“As soon as possible. Why?”

“We didn't want to wait too long to get Billy into the sauna. The pool closes in a few hours, but we still have to figure out what our plan is and set it up.”

“Alright.” Will glances back at Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica who are now talking animatedly about something. “Well, Erica's agreed to go into the ducts, so we can start soon.”

Max frowns. “How is this going to work? Are we all just going to wait until Lucas's sister gets into that room for us to go and get Billy?”

“I'm going to be a look-out while Dustin, Steve, and Robin check out the room, so I figured you guys can look-out with me or check out the room as well. If we go now, we should have enough time before the pool closes to set up a plan to get Billy into the sauna, too.”

“No, nope, not happening.” Max shakes her head. “What if something happens, and we get stuck in the room? Or it takes longer than we expect for Lucas's sister to get in? I don't want to risk it.”

Max, Mike, Lucas, and El stare at Will expectantly as if he'll have the answer to everything. Instead, their hawk-eyes make his mind go blank. He stares back at them, his brain short-circuiting.

El takes Will by the hand. In a soft yet strong voice she says, “I really think we need to deal with Billy. I don't think we should waste any more time.”

Seeing the desperate look in her eyes, Will knows she's right and nods. He looks to Mike. “How many people do we need to get Billy in the sauna?”

Mike bites his lip, counting on his fingers. “Obviously, we need El there. We also need a couple people to lock up the doors and the sauna, and we need someone to get Billy in there in the first place. I don't know exactly. Four or five?”

“Okay, perfect!” Will points to El, Max, Mike, and Lucas. “There are four of you. That'll be enough?”

Mike crosses his arms. “Wait... you're not helping?”

“No, I'll help plan or whatever. I just won't be there to get Billy in the sauna.” Will nods to Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica. “They need a look-out in case something goes wrong with the secret room. I can be their look-out while also keeping in contact with you guys.”

Lucas throws his arms up. “Wait a second! I'm not letting my little sister crawl around the mall's air ducts to get into some secret Russian room with those idiots.”

“Hey, we can hear you!” Robin shouts.

Rolling his eyes, Lucas continues, “If something happens to Erica, I'm dead. Either I'm going with you guys or she's not going in those air ducts.”

Will frowns, trying to think of who would work best where. He couldn't help but feel if he went to the sauna, El would basically do all the work. What good would he be there? “Alright. Lucas, you can be a look-out with me.” To Mike, he asks, “Can you handle getting Billy into the sauna with three people?”

Mike lets out a groan. “Are you serious? What good is two look-outs? Why do you need six people to get into a secret room?”

“Why do you need more than three people to get Billy into a sauna when you have El?” Will shoots back.

“Well...” Mike's shoulders slump. “Why can't you come with us?”

“I can't just ditch Dustin. Besides, I've been helping with the Russians since we heard the transmission on the Cerebro. Whatever they're hiding, I think it's important, and I want to see for myself if it has anything to do with the Mind Flayer. Especially if it might mean the gate's reopened. We can meet up afterwards anyways. Once we find out what's in that room, and once you guys see if Billy's the new host, then we'll figure out what to do from there.”

“You'll keep in touch though, right?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, wait, but what about your Supercom? You forgot it at your house.”

Lucas holds up his walkie-talkie. “I've got us covered.”

Mike looks disappointed, but he nods anyway. Turning, Will waves Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica over to them and once everyone's gathered by the counter, he explains the plan.


	23. Operation Child Endangerment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Lucas keep look out for Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica while Mike, El, and Max go to the sauna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the feedback! I've been busier lately with school starting, so I may not be updating as frequently, but I'm still working on this fanfic and will try to update as much as I can:)

The plan is set. Will grabs Lucas's walkie-talkie, and before he leaves the back room, Erica reminds him yet again, “Free ice cream for life, nerd.”

“I know. We won't forget. Good luck, Erica.” He rushes after the others who are leaving the store.

“We'll make sure Billy's still there first, then set everything up,” Mike says to Max and El by the door. He smiles when Will walks up. “Hey, everything ready?”

Will nods. He ducks out of the way of Steve and Dustin who barrel past bickering. Robin follows close behind, rolling her eyes and giving Will an apologetic look. “Don't know how we've survived them so far.” She motions them out of the doorway as she closes up the store.

With binoculars in hand, Lucas slides up next to them. “Ready?”

“As we'll ever be,” Robin replies and hurries after Steve and Dustin, both of whom have already made their way into the stairwell leading to the roof.

“See you guys soon,” Will says and starts to follow Lucas to the stairwell.

Mike puts his hand on Will's wrist, making his breath hitch. Will looks up at him. His eyebrows are drawn together, the corners of his mouth turned down. “Are you sure you don't want to come with us?”

A twinge of regret pulls at Will, but he knows he's made the right decision. “Don't worry, Mike. We'll see each other afterwards. Your house at ten, right?”

“Okay.” Mike's eyes are on his feet. “Keep in touch though. In case something goes wrong.”

“Of course.” About to turn around and continue on his way to the stairwell, Will startles when Mike pulls him into a quick hug. His heart lunges into his throat, but Mike's warmth leaves him as fast as it had come. “What was that for?”

“I don't want to leave things on a bad note.”

Will scrunches up his face in confusion. “We're not.”

“Hey, Byers!” Steve shouts from the stairwell. “Quit chatting and get up here already!”

“Okay, I'm coming!” He takes one last look at Mike, smiles, and runs up the stairs. When he gets to the roof, Dustin ushers him to the side overlooking the loading dock. He surveys the area below and sees that there are no guards stalking around with guns.

“What took you so long?” Dustin asks.

“Just talking to Mike.”

Lucas gives him a look which he responds to by grabbing Lucas's walkie-talkie and switching the channel. “Mike, Max, do you copy? It's Will, over.”

“Yeah, I copy,” they both respond.

Robin turns on Dustin's walkie-talkie and says into it, “Erica, do you copy?”

“Mmhm, I copy,” Erica replies. “You nerds in position or what?”

“Yeah, we're in position. It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light.”

“Green light, copy that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment.”

Lucas rolls his eyes and sighs exasperatedly while Robin says, “Can we maybe not call it that?”

“See you on the other side, nerds.”

As Robin helps Erica find her way through the vents, Will keeps in contact with Mike, Max, and El who are biking to the pool. “What happens if Billy isn't the host?” Max asks.

“Then we figure out who is,” Will says.

“He'll be pissed.”

“Better than being the host.”

“What if there's nothing important in that secret room?” Mike asks. “What if it really is just Chinese food and a bunch of shoes? Over.”

“Better to know now than later. Over.”

“Yeah, alright, Will the Wise. If Billy ends up killing us while you're sitting on your asses on the mall roof, that's on you. Over.”

“Okay, Mike.”

“We're at the pool now, by the way. He's still in his lifeguard's chair, so we'll get in touch once it's done. Over and out.”

Lucas nudges Will when he sets down the walkie-talkie. “Do you think it's possible that Billy isn't the host?”

Will shrugs. “Maybe, but by the way he looked at the pool and what El saw him doing, the chances are pretty slim.”

“How hot does it need to get in the sauna to burn it out of him?”

“I don't know. Pretty hot. It'll take a while, too. It did with me.”

Both of them jump when Mike's voice comes back over the walkie-talkie. “Will, you still there? Over.”

“Yeah, I'm here. What is it? Is everything okay? Over.”

“The temperature in the sauna only gets up to 220. Will that be enough? Over.”

“I guess if he's in there long enough. Just make sure he can't get out. Over.”

“Okay, we will. How's everything over there? Over.”

“Fine. Erica's still making her way through the vents.” Will glances up at the sky where the sun is beginning to creep out of view. “You should probably hurry and get everything set up. Over.”

“Yeah, I know, we're looking for stuff. See you later. Over and-”

“Oh, and Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. Over.”

“You, too. Over and out.”

There's a tightness in his stomach, and his skin crawls at the thought of something going wrong. Maybe he should have gone to the sauna with them and waited to investigate the Russians. _No_. He curses himself. He knows looking into the Russians is vital to their plan. He can't doubt it now.

“All right, nerds,” Erica's voice comes in over the walkie-talkie in Robin's hand. “I'm there.”

Robin takes a breath. “Do you – do you see anything?”

“Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about.”

“Any guards?”

“Negative.”

“Booby traps?”

“If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?”

They all roll their eyes. Robin purses her lips. “Thank you for that.”

Erica lets out a shout, and there's a bang over the walkie-talkie before she says, “I'm in.”

Lucas runs a nervous hand over his face while everyone else sits up expectantly. The door to the room opens, and Erica walks forward. She points up to the roof. “Free ice cream for life!”

Robin groans and gets to her feet along with Dustin and Steve. “Alright. We'll tell you what we see.”

Before they rush off, Steve knocks Will lightly on the head. “If something does go wrong, and we get captured or something, go and get help. Don't stick around and get yourselves killed.”

“Don't get captured in the first place,” Lucas says.

Steve cracks a smile and follows Dustin and Robin down to the loading dock. Will and Lucas watch from above, the latter peering through his binoculars. Will toggles with the channel on the walkie-talkie, so they'll be able hear Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Erica below.

Lucas looks up from his binoculars as they wait for the others to get to the room. “Uh, Will?”

“Yeah?”

“You know, about last night...”

Last night? Will glances to him, trying to conjure up any recollection of what Lucas is referring to. When he sees Lucas's apologetic face, the memory of the fight with Mike pops up in his mind. He completely forgot that only happened last night. It felt like ages ago. “It's fine, Lucas. You don't have to say anything.”

“No, but I want to make sure you're okay.”

“Of course I'm okay.”

“I don't know. It seemed like a pretty bad fight.”

“Lucas, we have bigger things to worry about now.”

“I know, but -”

Will puts a hand up when he sees Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica enter the room, the door closing behind them. “What do you guys see in there? Over.” Will asks over the walkie-talkie. Sighing, Lucas grabs his binoculars and scans the loading dock.

“Just a whole lot of boxes,” Robin replies.

“Tell them to open one,” Lucas says.

Will nods. “Have you looked at what's inside the boxes?”

“That's what we're doing right now.”

There's silence as Will and Lucas wait for them to say more.

“Alright,” Robin whispers. Will and Lucas lean in closer to the walkie-talkie in anticipation.

“That's definitely not Chinese food,” they hear Steve say. “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.”

“No,” Dustin says.

“What's going on?” Will asks. “What do you see?”

“Just step back, okay?”

“No.”

Robin says to Will, “There are a bunch of metal... I don't know what they are. Containers of some sort.”

“Step back. Seriously,” Steve is saying in the background.

“No!” Dustin pauses. “If you die, I die.”

“Okay.”

Will and Lucas have their ears pressed to the walkie-talkie. All they hear is a metallic click before Steve says, “What the hell?”

“What is that?” Robin says, but not to Will and Lucas.

“What?” Will presses. “What is it? What are you seeing?”

“It's some sort of -” Creaking interrupts Robin.

“Was that just me or did the room move?” Dustin asks.

“Booby traps,” Erica whispers.

Will runs a hand through his hair. “What's going on?”

“You know what?” Robin says. “Let's just grab that and go.”

“Which one do I press, Erica?” Dustin asks.

“Just press the damn button, nerd.”

“Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?”

Lucas grabs the walkie-talkie from Will. “Seriously, answer us. What the hell is going on down there?”

“Press 'open door.'”

“I'm pressing 'open door.'”

“Just open the – Press the other button,” Steve says.

“Out of the way, so she can press the button,” Robin says.

“Would you stop?”

“I'm trying,” Dustin says.

“Would you let me just do it? Would you stop?”

“Just open the door!” Robin shouts.

There's a loud metal clang before everyone starts screaming.


	24. Star-Crossed Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Lucas are stuck at the mall, trying to get in contact with the rest of the Party.

“Guys, what is going on?!” Will shouts through the walkie-talkie as Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica's screams pour out of it.

“We're going down! We're going down!” Steve is shouting.

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington!” Robin says.

“Robin, answer us!” Will pleads. “What is happening?”

Dustin's voice cuts in. “Why don't these buttons work?!”

“What is going on?” Will and Lucas shout into the walkie-talkie.

“I don't know!” Robin shouts back, breathless. “We're going down!”

“ _What_?”

“The room -”

Erica yells, “Press the button!”

“It's, I think it's -” Robin's last word cuts off.

“What?” Will and Lucas ask in unison.

“The – it's an – I -” Static takes over Robin's words.

Will and Lucas jump to their feet and tear down the stairwell, Will shouting into the walkie-talkie, “Robin, are you there? Robin! Do you copy?” They run out onto the loading dock and up to the door to the secret room. Lucas bangs his fist against it.

“Guys, are you there?” Will repeats into the walkie-talkie.

Static replies.

Smacking his palm on the door, Lucas turns to Will. “What just happened?”

“I don't know.”

“Oh my god!” Lucas throws his hands in the air. “What if they died? My sister was in there!”

“They didn't die,” Will assures him. “They probably just-”

Lucas grabs his arm, ushering him to be quiet and pointing behind him. Slowly, Will turns at the sound of voices coming their way. He doesn't see anyone, but footsteps echo on the concrete. Yanking on his sleeve, Lucas inches away from the secret room and motions towards a side door leading into the mall. They tiptoe towards it as the voices come closer, and then two men turn the corner, guns in hand. One man points to Will and Lucas and shouts something in Russian.

“Shit!” Lucas hisses, and Will shoves him forward and through the door.

They flinch when the door slams shut, but knowing they're far from safe, they sprint like madmen down the hallway. Feet pounding, heart racing, Will fumbles to change the channel on the walkie-talkie. “Mike! Max! Do you copy? This is a code red! I repeat, this is a code red!”

No answer. Will swallows, his breath shallow as he runs through the mall, but he comes to a halt as a wave of fear falls over him. In the back of his neck, he can feel it. The Mind Flayer.

“What is it, Will?” Lucas asks.

“The Mind Flayer. I feel him.”

“What?! Where?”

“Not here.” Will shakes his head. “But he's activated.”

Lucas eyes him. “You think it's Billy?”

Will starts walking towards the food court. Lucas follows hastily. With a trembling hand, Will brings the walkie-talkie up to his ear. “Mike? Max? Do you copy?” Static. He takes a breath. “Are you guys okay? It's Will. This is a code red. I repeat, a code red. Over.”

No answer. Lucas chews his lip. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don't know.” Will racks his brain for a plan. Anything. Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica are in trouble, but they have no way to get to them. Mike, Max, and El aren't answering while he knows the Mind Flayer is activated. He groans, switching the channel on his walkie-talkie. “Robin, are you there? This is Will. Over.”

Nothing.

“Please, if you're there, answer. Over.”

Lucas shakes his head. “How is this possible? Why can't our signal reach them?”

“Maybe something's interfering.” Will mulls over Robin's words. _We're going down. The room. I think it's... it's an..._ “An elevator!”

“What?” Lucas asks. “An elevator's interfering?”

“No, no, the room! The secret room, it's an elevator. Robin said they were going down. That the room was something. An elevator.”

Lucas's eyes go wide. “And that's why we can't reach them. They're too far down.”

“Yeah...”

“Shit, they'd have to be pretty far down for our signal not to reach them. Miles down.”

“Whatever is in those boxes, is being taken somewhere below the mall.”

“Like a secret laboratory?”

“A Russian laboratory.”

“But what do we do now? How do we get them out of there if we can't even reach them?”

Will glances up at the mall clock. “I don't know. Maybe we should go to Mike's. It's almost ten.”

“And just leave them here?”

“Not to leave them. To get help. Steve said so himself. If something happens to them, get help. The two of us can't do much against however many Russians could be hiding down there. Plus, we can't even get down there.”

Lucas sighs. “You're right. God, since when were you so calm in these kinds of situations?”

“Believe me, I'm not calm. And you haven't really been with me when I've been in these kinds of situations.”

Lucas pats him on the back. “Fair enough.”

They make their way to the entrance of the mall, checking each corner for Russian guards. When they reach the stretch leading to the entrance, they freeze. Outside the doors, walking back and forth, is a massive Russian guard. Will and Lucas back up until they're out of sight from the entrance doors.

“What do we do?” Will whispers.

“Find another exit?”

“But our bikes are at this one. We can't just walk to Mike's house.”

“Shit, you're right.” Lucas glances around. “But what then?”

They fall into silence as they contemplate what to do. Will takes out his walkie-talkie again. “Mike? Max? Do you copy? Over.”

Still no answer.

“I have my wrist rocket. Maybe I could shoot a rock in that Russian guy's face. Blind him,” Lucas suggests.

“Only if you want us to get shot. Did you see the size of his gun? He'll have us mowed down before you can even take your wrist rocket out.”

“What do you suggest, Will? Keep trying to radio Mike and Max? They're not answering, and I'll bet it'll be hours before they do.”

“No, it won't. It's almost ten, and that's when we're supposed to meet. If we don't show by then, they'll radio us.”

“So you want to wait around until they answer?”

“That seems to be our only option at the moment.”

After a pause, Lucas shrugs his shoulders. “Fine. Can we sit down then?”

“Yeah, okay.” They head away from the entrance and take a seat by the fountain, silent while Will taps his fingers on the walkie-talkie. He's starting to regret having looked into the Russians rather than following what Mike said and getting Billy in the sauna. Now he's not sure either group is safe.

Lucas crosses his arms. “Will, about everything that happened last night... I know you don't want to talk about it, but I think you should.”

Will keeps his eyes glued to the walkie-talkie. “There's nothing to talk about. We made up.”

“Mike told me what happened.”

Nearly dropping the walkie-talkie, Will keeps himself from panicking. Mike told Lucas? No, no, no, he must mean something else. He inhales. “What?”

“He told me that you destroyed Castle Byers.”

“Oh.” His eyes fall to the floor. “Yeah, I did. Did he tell you why?”

“He wasn't specific. Just that you and him had another fight about El and us not doing things we used to. I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes I forget what you've gone through.”

Will raises an eyebrow.

“I just mean, I forget you weren't there when we met El, and not really when she saved us from the demodogs last year. I didn't really think about why you got so annoyed with us, I guess. I didn't think about how everything affected you. That what you went through was completely different than what the rest of us went through.”

“What's your point, Lucas?”

“My point is that I'm dumb and Mike is, too, and we shouldn't have been such bad friends to you.”

Will sighs and meets Lucas's line of sight. “You weren't bad friends. It's not all your fault or Mike's fault either. And definitely not El's or Max's. I should have told you how I felt sooner instead of waiting for myself to get angry about it.”

“Don't even try that.”

“Try what?”

“Blaming yourself. You can go all day blaming one person or another, but in the end, whose fault is it really?”

Will shrugs then smirks. “I don't know. Mike's?”

Lucas chuckles. “Mike's!”

“I'm joking. He can be stupid sometimes, but he doesn't always mean to. I don't think he thinks before he does stuff.”

“Yeah, that's fair. Pretty sure we're both like that.”

“It wasn't just you guys hanging out with the girls that bothered me, by the way,” Will admits. “I think it was just the dynamic of the Party. It changed. I just felt like a third wheel all the time.”

“I'm sorry, Will.”

“No, don't be sorry. I'm not saying that was your fault. It's more like after everything that happened, the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer, everything, that I couldn't adjust. I tried to go back to what everything was like before it all happened, but I couldn't because you guys had changed. Not in a bad way. Just different. And I know I've changed, too, but I guess I just always thought that the Party would be something that would never change. Something that would always be there.”

“You really are Will the Wise, aren't you?” Lucas laughs softly, nudging him on the arm.

Will sighs, staring upwards at the glass ceiling. “Do you think you and Max, and Mike and El are going to get back together?”

“I'll try to make it work with Max, if she'll let me.” Leaning back, Lucas folds his arms over his chest. “Mike and El, on the other hand, is a completely different story.”

“What do you mean?” Will asks, his curiosity piqued.

“You heard what Mike said about Hopper. How he basically threatened him not to see El?”

Will shrugs his shoulders.

“Even if Mike and El do get back together,” Lucas continues, “I wouldn't trust Hopper not to try anything.”

“Oh, c'mon, Hopper isn't that bad.”

Lucas laughs. “Okay, he may be an alright guy, but I wouldn't want him as my dad. I couldn't imagine my dad threatening Max to stay away from me.”

“Okay, but isn't that what Billy did?”

“Billy?”

“Didn't Billy tell Max to stay away from you?”

“Alright, but Billy's a psychopath. Plus, he's not Max's dad or my dad. He's just her dumb brother.”

“Once again, Lucas, I'm failing to see your point.”

Shrugging, Lucas sticks up his pointer finger. “Remember what Dustin said about Suzie and him? The whole star-crossed lovers crap? Yeah, that's Mike and El.”

Will guffaws. “Romeo and Juliet? Really?”

“I'm serious! Well, not really actually, but still.” Lucas wags a finger in Will's face. “Hopper doesn't want them together. He's the whole reason they broke up. Like Romeo and Juliet, it's the family that tears them apart.”

“How was Hopper the whole reason they broke up?”

“He threatened Mike, therefore Mike lied to El, and El didn't like that, so she dumped his ass.”

“I thought you were Mike's wingman.”

Lucas waves his hands. “Of course I am. That's not the point. The point is, either Mike has to tell El that Hopper threatened him and that's the reason he lied or risk never having her trust him again.”

“You've lied to Max plenty of times.”

“Case in point. She doesn't trust me.”

This causes Will to double down in laughter. Giving him a look, Lucas shoves him lightly which almost causes him to fall into the fountain. Will continues to laugh, and Lucas stands up, pretending to leave. Will hops to his feet, repeating Lucas's name over and over until he returns to sit beside him. Struggling to take a steady breath, Will says with a grin,“So, Mike and El. They're star-crossed lovers because Hopper doesn't want them to be together?”

“Basically.”

“That's only one family though. Mike's parents don't care that he's dating El.”

“Wait, do they actually know he's dating her?”

“Yeah... how could they not know? He's been going to her house every day for the past six months.”

Lucas nods, tapping his fingers on his chin, then a sly smile appears on his face. “But they don't know about her really. They know she's Jane Hopper, not Eleven.”

“What the hell, Lucas?” Will can't help but crack up at this. “Since when did you think about all of this?”

“Honestly, I literally only thought of this just now. I'm connecting the dots as we speak.”

“Okay? Well-” Will shakes his head. “-if Mike's parents did know about Eleven, are you sure they would care? They don't make a deal out of Nancy dating my brother, and he's not exactly Steve Harrington.”

“Your brother also doesn't have superpowers and didn't escape from Hawkins Lab.”

“Okay, so that makes Mike and El star-crossed lovers for sure.” Will lets out a laugh and before they know it, both of them are hunched over, laughing like maniacs. For a second, they don't even register the man shouting something in Russian from the escalator nearby.

“Oh, shit!” Lucas grabs Will by the arm, and they both make a run for it. The Russian guard spots them, shouting and sprinting after them. They turn a corner and fling themselves behind a store counter, hunching low and holding their breaths.

The pounding footsteps of the guard grow closer. Will hugs his knees to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. All he can hear is his breath, deafening heart beat, and the guard's echoing footsteps on the other side of the counter. He bites his lip as the footsteps stop. _Please don't look here. Please go away._

The footsteps start again, walking away from the counter. Will lets out a quiet breath.

“Will? Lucas? Do you copy?” Mike's voice is like a shout from the walkie-talkie in Will's hand. His heart stops, his body going cold. “Do you copy? Where are you guys? It's already-”

Will snatches for the switches on the walkie-talkie and shuts it off, his breath hitching. The guard's footsteps have stopped again. Will looks wide-eyed at Lucas.

The guard says something in Russian over a radio, and his footsteps inch closer to the counter. Will watches Lucas desperately. Lucas puts a finger over his mouth, telling Will to stay quiet, and takes out his wrist rocket and a rock.

When the Russian guard peers over the counter, he's met with a rock in the center of his face. The guard stumbles back, holding his hands over his face. Will and Lucas scramble to their feet and bolt down the hallway. They hear shouts following them, but don't look back, sprinting through the food court. Lucas starts to go for the escalator, but Will stops him and points at the main entrance frantically. “The guard's not there anymore!” Wasting no time, they hurl themselves towards the doors, flinching when they hear a gunshot go off.

The two boys stumble into the cool night air, grab their bikes, and tear off away from the mall.


	25. Mike's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Lucas head to Mike's house.

“Holy shit!” Lucas cackles into the wind, zigzagging about the street on his bike. “That was insane. Are you alright?”

Breathless, Will nods. He can barely think, his mind going every which way, dizzy and light-headed.

Lucas frowns, staring forward. “I can't believe they shot at us.”

“What do you expect? They carry around massive guns. Did you think they wouldn't use them?”

“I don't know. It's worse knowing my sister's still there. Would they shoot a ten year old?”

“I hope not.” Slowing down to catch a breath, Will gestures back to the mall. “We don't know that the Russians have found them yet. For all we know, they could be taking the Russians out one by one.”

“Erica? Taking out Russians?” Lucas lets out a laugh. “That would be a sight to see. Anyway, come on. Let's get to Mike's house before the Russians do find them.”

They pick up speed on their bikes, zipping through streets and backyards. They bounce over a curb and turn down a dark road. Will glances up at the flickering street lights.

“Oh, shit!” Lucas shouts as someone rushes out of the trees and sprints in front of them. They swerve to the side, their bikes screeching, and tumble onto the pavement. Will stumbles to his feet, catching sight of who ran in front of them before they disappear back into the woods. Billy.

“Are you alright?” Lucas asks Will, but it's obvious he's not. All Will can think of is that night on Mirkwood, riding home from Mike's house. Looking up from his bike light to see it. The demogorgon. Crashing his bike on the side of the road. Running for his life. He starts to tremble, his breath growing unsteady, quickening and becoming so shallow he's afraid he won't be able to breathe at all. He reaches out, grabbing the handles of his bicycle to steady himself. He squeezes his eyes shut, clutching onto the handles as visions of the demogorgon and the Upside Down flood his mind.

“Will? Will, are you okay? Will!” Lucas grabs Will by the shoulder, staring into his eyes. “What is it, Will? What's wrong?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Will grasps Lucas's arm. “I'm... I – I just...”

“It's okay.” Lucas keeps his hand firmly planted on Will's shoulder as Will steadies his breath.

“I just saw... in my head.... I saw the – the demogorgon.”

“Oh, man...” Lucas glances to the ground before looking back at Will. “Are you alright?”

Will takes a deep breath in, then out. “Fine, I guess.”

“Okay, well, do you want to take a minute before we head over to Mike's?”

Shaking his head, Will climbs back on his bike. “No, it's fine. We have to figure out what happened to Dustin and the others.”

Lucas agrees, and they resume their ride to Mike's house. After a moment of silence, Lucas looks to Will. “You know, back there I was talking about Mike and Eleven being star-crossed lovers or whatever? What I meant was, they may be obsessed with each other now, and they're all each other can think about, but after awhile, they'll calm down. They won't be like this forever is what I'm saying.”

“Okay, Lucas.”

“When I first met Max, she was all I could think about, but things have calmed down.”

“Lucas.”

“Yeah?”

“I get it. You don't have to explain.”

“Okay.”

The light in Mike's basement is on when Will and Lucas arrive and knock on the door. It opens immediately. Mike ushers them inside, closing the door swiftly. “Where's everyone else?”

Will notices a cut above Mike's eyebrow, but doesn't ask where it came from.“That's why we're late,” Will says, peering around the room. Max and El are asleep on the couch, curled up in each other's arms. “We don't know.”

“What do you mean, you don't know?”

“The room,” Lucas explains, “it was some sort of elevator. Dustin, Erica, Robin, and Steve all went inside, and next thing we knew, they were screaming.”

“They saw something in those boxes,” Will says. “I don't know what because the door closed on them then, but Robin said there were metal containers.”

“Are they still there?” Mike asks.

“Yes. We tried to get in contact with them, but the signal wouldn't reach. That's why we think the room's an elevator. We were going to tell you guys to come to the mall and help us get to them, but you didn't answer, and we got chased down by Russian guards-”

“They started shooting at us,” Lucas adds.

“We had to get out of there, so we rode here as fast as we could.”

Mike, taken aback, puts his hands on his forehead. “They shot at you? Are you okay?”

“We're fine,” Will assures him, “but I don't know about the others. They could be taken captive for all we know.”

“Shit.” Running his hands through his hair, Mike glances at El and Max on the couch. “Shit, what are we supposed to do? Should we go to the mall? El's drained, and Max isn't doing so good either. I don't know if they should come. Should they?”

Will shakes his head. “The mall doesn't seem safe right now. The Russians are probably on high alert now that they've seen us.”

“Then what?” Lucas asks. “We can't just leave them there.”

“I know, but I don't know what to do.”

“We can't leave a Party member in jeopardy,” Mike says, still looking at El and Max.

Letting out a groan, Lucas throws his hands up. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“We need to contact them somehow. Maybe if we get close enough to the mall...”

“The signal won't reach because of how far down they are,” Lucas says.

Then, what could they do? Climb down the elevator shaft? Impossible, especially since they can't get the doors open. They need to contact them. They need to get their signal to reach far enough. A light goes off in Will's brain. “Cerebro,” he says.

Mike and Lucas's eyes light up, Lucas snapping his fingers.

“If that can reach Utah, it'll definitely reach Dustin and the others,” Will says.

Lucas's smile drops. “If it even works. Dustin couldn't even get in contact with Suzie, remember?”

“No, but it does work. I told you, Dustin and I were able to hear the Russian transmission on it. If that was coming from below the mall, the signal is definitely strong enough.”

“Should we go now?” Lucas asks.

Will looks to Mike. “What about Max and El? Should we wake them?”

“No, they need to rest. After everything that happened in the sauna, El needs to recuperate.”

“Oh, yeah. What happened?”

Mike shrugs. “We were right. Billy is the host. He got away, but not before he nearly strangled El and cut Max's face.”

“Is that what happened there?” Will gestures to the cut above Mike's eyebrow.

“Oh, that. Yeah. Billy punched me.”

Lucas winces. “Ouch.”

“Are you okay?” Will reaches to Mike's cut but realizing what he's doing, pulls his hand away fast, hoping Mike and Lucas didn't notice. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas gives him a funny look. Will's cheeks grow pink.

Not seeming to have noticed, Mike replies, “Oh, believe me, I'm fine. El and Max, on the other hand...” He huffs. “Anyway, Cerebro. We can get El and Max later, but I think we should go now.”


	26. Killing Two Birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Mike, and Lucas get in contact with the Scoops Troop.

Will, Mike, and Lucas pedal on down to the field by Nelson's farm. They toss their bikes in the grass when they arrive and begin their trek up the hill.

“We saw Billy on our way to your house, by the way,” Will tells Mike.

Mike stops for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. “You did? Where? What was he doing?”

“Running.” Will gestures Mike to keep moving, and the latter rushes forward. “Not too far from the mall.”

“I don't think he noticed us,” Lucas adds.

Mike holds a hand to his forehead, wrinkling his nose. “Did you see where he was going?”

Will and Lucas both shake their heads. Noticing Mike letting out a harsh breath, Will gives him a half-smile. “I'm sure we'll find him.”

“Alright, but then what?”

“We burn the shit out of him and don't let him escape,” Lucas says.

“Okay.” Mike throws his hands in the air. “Then what?”

“Then we win.”

A bitter laugh comes out of Mike's throat. “No, see, that's the problem. We don't. We don't win. We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before, and he just came right back. We don't just have to stop Billy, we have to stop the Mind Flayer.”

“How in the hell do we do that?”

“I don't know.”

Will comes to a halt, eyeing his friends and wondering how they'd forgotten their previous conversation on the same topic earlier that day. “We close the gate.”

Mike and Lucas furrow their eyebrows at him. “We don't even know that it's open. Or where it is,” Mike counters.

“Yeah, but we might have an idea.” He points up the hill to where they can see Cerebro. “We get in contact with Dustin and the others and find out where they are and what's in those boxes. If it really is a Russian laboratory or some other crap, chances are the reason it's here is because of the Mind Flayer or at least the Upside Down. Didn't we talk about this already?”

Turning away from Mike and Lucas, Will sprints the rest of the way up the hill, kneels down, and grabs the radio. Mike and Lucas collapse beside him as he turns it on and toggles with the controls. When he gets to the right channel, he clears his throat. “Dustin, Robin, Erica, or Steve, do any of you copy? It's Will. I'm with Mike and Lucas. Do you copy? Over.”

Radio silence.

“This is Will, Mike, and Lucas. Dustin or anyone, do you copy? Over.”

Nothing.

“Maybe you're on the wrong channel?” Lucas suggests.

Checking the channel, Will shakes his head. “No, I'm on the right one. Unless they-”

“Hello? Will?” A voice comes over the radio. “It's Dustin. Are you there? Over.”

“Dustin!” Will cries.

“Will!” Dustin's voice is filled with relief. “Holy shit, we thought you died!”

“You thought _I_ died?” Will laughs in disbelief. “What about you? Lucas and I thought _you_ died! What's going on? Over.”

“We're in a bit of a dilemma...” Dustin says before another voice cuts in.

“No shit, Henderson!” Steve yells. “Is that Byers you're talking to? Tell him to get us the hell out of here!”

“Calm down, Steve,” Dustin shoots back. “Anyways, Will, turns out, the secret room isn't just a room. It's an elevator. Which we're stuck in. So, we kind of need you and Lucas to get us out of here. Over.”

“Oh.” Will's shoulders slump. “There's a bit of a problem there...”

“What do you mean?” Dustin asks.

“Yeah,” Erica jumps in. “What are you talking about, a bit of a problem?”

Will sighs. “So, we're not exactly at the mall right now. We're at the field by Nelson's farm. On Cerebro.”

“What?” Dustin says. “Why are you on Cerebro? Over.”

“It's the only way we can contact you. The signal's too weak on our Supercoms. Also, we couldn't stay at the mall. Lucas and I got chased down by Russian guards who started shooting at us. Over.”

“Seriously?” Dustin lets out a groan. “Well, can you send in some cavalry? Hopper or your mom or someone? Over.”

Sitting up, Mike huffs and leans over Will's shoulder to talk into the radio. “And tell them you're stuck in a secret Russian elevator in the mall?”

“Mike?” Dustin asks. “You're there, too?”

“Yeah. Will and Lucas found me as soon as they got out of the mall,” Mike explains.

“Is El there?”

“No. Why?”

“I don't know, Mike. Why would I be asking about a girl with superpowers while I'm stuck in a Russian elevator?”

“Okay, Dustin. Well, she's not here, but we can get her. Thing is, we basically just got beaten down by Billy who is, by the way, the new host for the Mind Flayer. Don't think she's feeling up for much right now. Over.”

“How else do you think we're supposed to get out of here?” Dustin asks.

“We can get Hopper,” Will says before Mike can get another word in, “but there's something more pressing we need to discuss. Over.”

“What is it? Over.”

“The boxes. The metal containers. What's in them? Is it Mind Flayer related? Weapons of some sort? Over.”

Erica's voice takes over. “The only thing in those boxes was some dumbass green liquid. _Over_.”

Will turns to Mike and Lucas, mouthing _green liquid?_ with a raised eyebrow. The two boys shrug. “Is there anything else? Clues as to what they're doing in Hawkins? Over.”

Dustin sighs. “Just boxes. Over.”

Will taps his fingers against the radio. Green liquid? That didn't ring any bells. What could green liquid have to do with the Upside Down?

Mike leans over to Will and says quietly, “If we're going to get Hopper, we should go now. The sooner, the better, right?”

“What about Dustin and the others? We can't just leave them hanging.”

“What else are we supposed to do? The sooner we get Hopper, the sooner we get them out. Right?”

Tracing his thumb over the radio, Will drew in a long breath before lifting his shoulder. “Right. Okay, Dustin, we're getting Hopper which means we won't be in contact with you anymore until we can get you out. Over.”

“Okay, but hurry up. Over.”

“We will. Over and out.”

The three of them get to their feet and race down the hill, their arms flinging out in front of them to avoid falling. Hopping on their bikes, they speed down the street with determination.

“How do you know Hopper won't think we're crazy?” Mike pants.

“With all the shit that goes on in this town,” Lucas says, “he'd be crazy not to believe us.”

They get to the cabin and pound rapidly on the door, all of them shouting for Hopper. When there's no response, Will presses his ear up to the door and listens for any sounds. It's eerily silent. “No one's home.”

Mike paces across the porch. “Well, now what?”

“Where could he be?” Lucas asks.

“We could check out the station,” Will says.

Mike glances at his watch. “It's past midnight. You really think he'd be there?”

“I don't know where else to check.”

All three boys jump at the shout emanating from Mike's walkie-talkie. “Hey, asshole!” Max grumbles. “Where the hell are you?”

Mike answers frantically. “Hey, Max, sorry, we're trying to find Hopper, but he's not at the cabin. Over.”

“Huh? Why are you trying to find Hopper? And who are you with? Will and everyone?”

“I'm with Will and Lucas. Dustin and the others are stuck in the mall, and we can't get them out ourselves, so we're trying to get Hopper. Over.”

“Come back here then. El can probably find him.”

Mike looks to Will and Lucas for confirmation. They both shrug. “Okay, fine. We'll be there in ten. Over and out.”

The boys get back on their bikes and head to Mike's house again. When they get there, they rush inside to see Max and El glowering at them, their faces cut and bruised. Will's eyes fall on the dark purple bruise on El's neck. Max glares at each of them individually. “Were you going to tell us before you left?”

“I'm sorry,” Will says, “but we had to get in contact with Dustin and thought you should get some rest.”

She crosses her arms. “What happened in the mall anyway?”

“They went to check out the boxes in that room,” Lucas explains, “but then the doors shut. Turns out, the room was an elevator, and it brought them down below the mall where we couldn't reach them over our Supercom. Will and I tried to get in touch with you guys, but we got chased by some Russian guards and had to get out of there.”

“Where are the others now?” El asks.

“We got in contact with them over Cerebro,” Will says. “They're still stuck in that room, which is why we're looking for Hopper.”

“What's Hopper gonna do?” Max asks.

“He's the Chief of police,” Mike says. “He's got a gun and back-up. They can storm the Russian lab or whatever it is they're hiding under the mall.”

Will catches El's eye and gives her a nod. “Can you find him for us?”

Ignoring Max's eye roll, El obliges. She gets a blind fold, turns on the TV to static, and sits on the couch. Everyone else gathers around her. They go quiet as she puts on the blindfold, the static being the only noise filling the basement.

It takes less than a minute for El to murmur, “I found him.”

Max leans forward. “Where is he?”

“Driving.”

“Where?” Lucas asks.

“I don't know. He's with Will's mom.”

Will's breath quickens. “My – my mom?”

“Can you tell where they're driving to?” Max asks.

El is silent for a moment. Then, she says, “He said something about Ill... Illa-noy?”

“Illinois?” Mike frowns. “Like the state? The state of Illinois?”

El pulls off the blindfold, knits her eyebrows together, and shrugs. “Ill – Illinois.”

Max takes El to the bathroom to clean the blood off her face. Will watches Mike closely when he stands up and begins pacing in front of the couch. “This makes no sense.” Mike pinches the bridge of his nose. “I couldn't get Hopper off my back all summer, and now he's driving to Illinois with Will's mom? What the hell is in Illinois?”

“What does it matter?” Lucas lets out a yawn. “The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us.”

“Up to us to save Dustin and the others from the Russians _and_ do something about the Mind Flayer? How do we do that?”

“If the only way into the Russian lab is through the elevator,” Will says, “then we need to find a way in there.”

“Isn't that the problem?” Lucas says. “We don't have anyone else who can fit in the air ducts. Plus, we don't want to get trapped in there as well.”

Will taps his foot on the floor. “We need a key card.”

“Where do we get that?”

“One of the guards.”

Mike shakes his head. “That's too risky. How are we supposed to get it when they have guns? We already know they're not afraid to shoot us.”

“Eleven could knock them out,” Lucas suggests.

Will nods in agreement, but Mike holds up a finger. “Wait a second. The whole reason you were checking out the room was to see if there was anything Mind Flayer related in there, right?”

“Yeah,” Will says, “but all they found in those boxes were metal containers with green liquid.”

“But they have to be using that for something.”

Will leans back, taking in the thought. All he'd been focusing on since Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica went into the room was getting them back out. Yes, he dismissed the green liquid when Dustin mentioned it, but maybe Mike is right. “Since we know that room is an elevator, that means we know it goes down somewhere. Laboratory was what we were thinking. So, what if that's where the gate is?”

“We could kill two birds with one stone,” Mike says.

“What are you guys going on about?” Max asks as she and El return from the bathroom and plop themselves down beside Will on the couch. El rubs her eyes, blinking as she looks at the boys.

“We need to figure out if the gate is underneath Starcourt,” Mike says.

El furrows her eyebrows. “The gate?”

“We think the Russians reopened the gate,” Will explains, “and that's why the Mind Flayer's back.”

“We were thinking of getting a key card from one of the guards to get Dustin, Erica, and the others out,” Lucas says.

Mike holds his hand up. “But that might not be the best plan now.”

Lucas's eyebrows knit together, and Will frowns. “Then what _is_ the best plan?” Lucas asks.

“I just mean that maybe since there's a large chance the Russians could be behind the Mind Flayer's return, we shouldn't just get Dustin and the others out of the elevator. We should see what the Russians are hiding.”

“You want to go down there?” Will says.

“And you don't? You were the one saying if the gate's open again, we have to close it to kill the Mind Flayer. If the gate's under the mall, we can find it and close it before things get out of hand.”

Will shrugs, suppressing a yawn. “Yeah, you're right. I wasn't disagreeing; I was just surprised you wanted to.”

“Really?” Lucas raises an eyebrow at Will.

“Isn't he? I mean, what would we do anyway? Even if we get the others out of the elevator, we'll still have to deal with Billy, and even if we burn the Mind Flayer out of him, it'll come back if the gate's not closed. The earlier we find out where the gate is, the better.”

Shutting his eyes and rubbing his temples, Lucas takes a deep breath. “Yeah, alright.”

“Okay,” Max says, “but were you planning on doing this now?”

Will and Mike glance at each other before looking back to Max. “The sooner, the better,” Will tells her.

Max huffs. “Yeah, but not if we have to find Billy, too. The brain dies, the body dies, right? If we don't get the Mind Flayer out of Billy before we close the gate, he'll die.”

“Then we find Billy and burn it out of him,” Mike says.

Throwing him a glare, she turns to El. “You think you can find him?”

El widens her eyes, but nods anyway. “Okay.”

Mike takes a seat on the floor beside her. “Are you sure?”

She nods. Max hands her the blindfold, and they turn on the TV to static.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update, but I hope you guys like it so far:) if you want, comment things you want to see more of in future chapters! Thank you:)


	27. Dungeon Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party is faced with a set-back in their plans.

Will, Lucas, Mike, and Max sit silently around El as she searches for Billy. It's been nearly fifteen minutes, bloody tissues strewn about the carpet, yet no sign of him. Will wrings his hands together nervously.

“It doesn't usually take this long to find someone, right?” Lucas whispers.

“Maybe something happened to him,” Will suggests.

Max shushes both of them. “Quiet. She'll find him.”

After five more minutes and no word about Billy, Mike lets out a sigh. “This is pointless now. Obviously, he doesn't want to be found.”

El takes off her blindfold, apologizing to Max. Mike and Lucas get to their feet and stretch.

“We could always go to the mall to see if the gate is there. Not close it yet, but just make sure it's where we're thinking it could be,” Will says, standing up with Mike and Lucas.

Mike nods. “Plus, we'll be more prepared for the Russians when we do have to close it.”

Max and El stand and start to follow the boys to the door, but El staggers, latching onto Max's arm for balance. “What is it?” Max asks, concern falling over her face as El steadies herself.

Mike's eyebrows knit together. He catches El's eye. “Are you okay?”

El wipes the blood off from under her nose. “I'm... I'm okay.”

“Are you sure?”

She swallows, nodding, but Will catches her wince. Max notices as well. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Max asks.

“We have to get to Dustin and the others,” Will says, although he's starting to doubt himself.

Lucas sets his hand on Will's shoulder, motioning to El. “How's she supposed to knock out the Russian guards if she can barely walk?”

“I can walk,” El assures them.

Will looks back to her. He doesn't know the limits of her powers, but he knows she doesn't look good now.

“It's not like the rest of us aren't exhausted anyway. We're no use to them if we can't think straight,” Lucas insists.

Will looks to Mike, and they share an expression of reluctance. Leaving Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica in that Russian elevator isn't ideal, but he knows Lucas is right, at least partially. Hopper is gone, they're exhausted, and they know if they went to the mall now, they would surely be shot by a guard. Will keeps expecting El to pass out by the way she's swaying on her feet.

“Alright,” Will agrees.

Mike nods reluctantly. “Yeah, okay. We'll get up as early as possible though. Here,” he tosses Will and Lucas blankets and grabs some for himself. “We can take the floor. El and Max, you can take the couch.”

Mike turns off the lights, and they all get situated in their spots. Lying between Mike and Lucas, Will stares up at the ceiling, his mind racing. He can't shake the guilt at leaving Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica in the elevator. An urge to run off and go to the mall himself comes over him, but he ignores it, knowing it's completely irrational. He could at least go to Cerebro and explain to Dustin why they haven't helped them yet, but the exhaustion that falls over him rules that out. He would most likely pass out the second he got to the field.

The steady breathing and occasional snore coming from his left tells him that Lucas is fast asleep, but to his right, he hears shuffling. He glances to see Mike staring right at him, nearly giving him a heart attack. Afraid to say anything, he looks back up at the ceiling, keeping his eyes glued there even though he can feel Mike's gaze directly on him. His heart pounds in his throat. He can feel his face slowly growing warmer, but he hopes Mike doesn't notice it in the dark. He flinches at the whisper inches from his ear. “I'm sorry.”

“Huh?” Will whispers back but still facing the ceiling. “What for?”

“For fighting today at the mall.”

“You don't have to apologize for that.”

“I know, but I was being a bit... intense.”

“Doesn't matter. You're not the only one to blame for us fighting. I was being just as intense as you were.”

“But you had a point. If the gate really is underneath Starcourt, we could get rid of the Mind Flayer easier than we would have if you didn't check out the Russians.”

“But you had a point, too. We had to make sure Billy was the host, and if you guys hadn't left when you said to, you might not have been able to get him in the sauna in the first place.”

Mike laughs quietly. “Alright, so we were both right.”

“Basically.”

Another laugh. Will can feel Mike's breath on his cheek. He squeezes his eyes shut, focusing on steadying his own breath in order for it not to sound ragged like he's about to hyperventilate.

“Why do you think your mom is going with Hopper to Illinois?” Mike asks him.

His breath steadies at this question. He had no idea.

When Will doesn't answer, Mike continues, “Do you think they know something? About the Mind Flayer? Or the Russians maybe? What's in Illinois anyway?”

“Beats me.”

“Did you tell your mom about feeling the Mind Flayer again?”

“No, I haven't seen her since yesterday morning.” This sends a spark of panic through Will. All summer, his mom would be anxious if he came home too late without telling her, but last night, he hadn't even seen her at the house when Mike and Lucas were over. How long had she been gone?

“Did she say anything to you about going to Illinois?”

“No. That's what's weird,” Will admits. “I haven't heard anything from her since yesterday.”

“What about Jonathan? Do you think he would know why she's going?”

“I don't know. I haven't spoken to him much because he's got his internship at the paper, but he would have told me if he knew Mom was going to Illinois.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah, weird.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Will sees Mike shift closer. Close enough that he can feel Mike's warm breath against the side of his face. Will's fingers curl around his blanket, bringing it up to his chin and gripping the fabric to keep from screaming.

“Are you okay?” Mike asks him.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you won't look at me.”

His face burns, but now that Mike's acknowledged it, he can't bare to turn and look at him. He tries to think of something to say, but nothing comes to mind and his voice doesn't seem to be working anymore.

“Will.”

“Mmhm?”

“ _Will._ ” Mike cups Will's cheek in his hand and turns his head to face him. Looking Mike directly in the eyes, his entire body tenses. They're mere inches apart. He can feel Mike's breath on his upper lip, and his soft hand on his face. His eyes drop down to Mike's lips where a smile is present before looking back into his eyes. “Will?”

“Yeah?” he barely whispers then flinches when Mike blows a puff of air into his eyes. “Hey!” He shoves Mike lightly, causing both of them to burst out into fits of laughter. They freeze when they hear a groan from around the couch where Max and El are sleeping, but once they realize they're not awake, their laughing fits continue.

Will cackles when Mike reaches under his blanket and starts tickling his sides. “Stop!” He smacks at Mike's hands and attempts to muffle Mike's laughter by shoving the blanket in his face. Whipping the blanket out of the way, Mike pokes Will in the ribs, eliciting a yelp from him.

Mike freezes. “Are you okay?”

“Mike?” Will says, focusing his gaze onto Mike's worried expression.

“Yeah? What is it?” Mike leans closer, and Will takes this chance to jab his finger into Mike's stomach. “Oof!”

Mike clutches his stomach while Will snickers. “That's not funny!” Mike smacks him lightly on the forehead.

“Yeah, it is!” Will laughs, earning him a pillow to the face. He wastes no time grabbing his own pillow and pummeling Mike with it, both of them suppressing shrieks of laughter.

Once they're finally worn out, their sides sore from laughing, they fall onto their backs, eyes on the ceiling. “I do miss this,” Mike says. “Us hanging out together.”

Will struggles to keep his eyes open. “You say it like it's been centuries.”

“It sort of has.”

“Not true. Movie nights with Lucas and Max. That counts.”

“Okay, fine. But you know what I mean.”

Will sighs. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Mike nudges Will's shoulder. “But hey, how about after all this shit with the Russians and the Mind Flayer, we hang out for real, like old times? You, me, Lucas, and Dustin.”

“D&D?”

“Yeah, sure. D&D.”

“And I'll be the Dungeon Master this time?”

“If you've got the campaign planned, then yeah.”

A grin spreads across Will's face. “Thanks, Mike.”

“Don't thank me. You're the one who's going to be in charge. It's hard work. Be prepared.”

“No worries. I can handle a challenge. I'm Will the Wise, remember?”

“I could never forget.”

Will and Mike begin to drift off to sleep. Will's eyelids are heavy as exhaustion overtakes him, but he can still feel when Mike's hand slips into his before sleep overcomes him.


	28. My Own Species

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will talks to El. The group goes to Cerebro to talk to the Scoops Troop.

Will wakes with a start, not unusual for him, especially these past few days. It takes a moment for him to register where he is, but he relaxes when he recognizes the basement he's spent so many nights playing D&D in. The room is quiet but for the breathing of his sleeping friends. Rubbing his eyes, he peaks at the time on Mike's watch. 5:51. He gets to his feet and goes to the bathroom.

He's washing his hands when he hears a tiny knock on the door. He turns off the faucet, dries off his hands, and opens the door slowly. Eleven is standing there, a small smile on her face.

“Hi, sorry, did you need to use it?” Will ducks past her to allow her through, but she shakes her head.

“No, I want to talk.”

“Oh.” Will glances around the room to see if anyone else is awake, but they're all curled up in their blankets. He looks back to El. “What about?”

“Billy. We know he's the host now, but what about Heather?”

“Heather?”

“The girl he took. She was screaming, and she was in the bath filled with ice.”

“Oh, right.” Will leans back against the door frame. He hadn't even thought about that. He figured Billy had killed her, but then he remembers how El said she and Max had visited her house and seen her there with Billy. After she'd been taken by him.

El folded her arms. “Can there be more than one host?”

“I don't know,” Will admits. “This doesn't seem like last year.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the Mind Flayer was able to get me because I'd already been to the Upside Down. But Billy? When was he ever there?” He chews his bottom lip. “That part of the Mind Flayer that was in me last year is what's here in Billy, so maybe it can have more than one host.”

El frowns. “How do we get it out of both of them?”

An exasperated sigh escapes Will's lips. “I guess we'll have to find them both and burn it out of them. Then close the gate.”

“We need to be careful,” El says. “Billy was... strong. We need to find some way he can't escape like last time.”

“Okay. We should see what the others say when they wake up, but you're right.” Groaning, he glances back at the others asleep. “How are we going to do all of this? Find Billy _and_ Heather, and get the Mind Flayer out of them. Find the gate, if it's even there, and close it, and we can only do that once the Mind Flayer's out of Billy and Heather. Plus, we still have to save Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica.”

“Will.” El puts a hand on his shoulder. “We'll figure it out.”

“I know, I know. But there's just so much that could go wrong.”

“We can do it.”

“You mean, you can do it. You're the only one who can close the gate, right?”

“I think so.” Her smile wavers. “But how do we keep it from reopening? I already closed it last year. If it keeps opening, I don't know how much longer I can keep closing it.”

“We'll have to make sure it never opens again.”

“How?”

He draws in a breath. “No clue. Maybe Hopper can do something.”

El watches him curiously as he fiddles with the sleeve of his shirt. “Will?”

“Yeah?”

She tilts her head to where Mike is asleep on the floor. “Mike said Hopper threatened him.”

“He did?” Will isn't sure what to make of this.

“Mike said Hopper thinks we're spending too much time together.”

Examining her expression, he can't tell whether she's glad about Mike's explanation or angry at Hopper. Could be a bit of both.

“He admitted he lied,” El goes on, “and he said I was the most important thing to him in the world.”

Will stiffens, his mind immediately flashing back to last night and his talk with Mike. “He said that?”

“But he got angry when I said Hopper might be right, and I should be spending time with my own species.”

A burst of laughter escapes his throat. He holds his hands up when El furrows his eyebrows at him, his cheeks going pink. “Sorry, it's just... how did he take that? I mean, what part was he angry about?”

She bows her head. “He found out I spied on him.”

“Oh.”

“Are you angry?”

“What?”

“About me spying?” Her eyes fix on him. “Max says we make our own rules, but Mike doesn't think so.”

“See, I get why Mike's angry, but I don't think it's such a big deal. I'm not angry about it.” He pauses, thinking about what Mike would want him to say. “It's not like you spied on _me_ though.”

“What if I did?” Her voice is low and her eyebrows drawn together. “Would you be angry?”

His mouth twitches. “I don't know... Maybe more freaked out? But it's not like it's a big deal right now. We have to focus on getting rid of the Mind Flayer.”

El gives Will a smile which he returns. “Do you think I did the right thing?”

“What? Spying on Mike?”

“No, saying I should spend my time with my own species.”

“Oh, I mean...” He lifts a shoulder. “If that's what you want. I don't think you should doubt yourself.”

The two of them jerk their heads in the direction of the couch when Max awakens with a moan, sitting up and glancing about the room. Her eyes land on Will and El. After stretching, she trudges over to them. “What's up?”

“Just figuring out what we should do about the Mind Flayer,” Will tells her.

El shifts from one foot to the other. “We think Heather could be another host.”

“Really?” A frown spreads over Max's face. “So we'll have to find her as well as Billy?”

“Seems like it,” Will says.

“Are we still planning on finding them after we go to the mall?”

“I mean...” Will pauses, thinking over what they need to do. Find Billy and Heather, find the gate, burn out the Mind Flayer, save Dustin and the others, and close the gate. His mind buzzes with possible plans. “Actually, we should go to Cerebro first. To make sure Dustin and the others are still there and haven't been captured yet.”

Max looks at her watch. “Think we should get going soon? Technically speaking, they've been stuck in that elevator for about eight hours.”

Running a hand through his hair, Will nods. “We should.”

Before he can say more, Max goes over to Lucas and Mike and rips their blankets off of them before clapping her hands in their faces. “Rise and shine! Get to it!”

Will and El laugh as Mike and Lucas groan, blinking up at Max with scowls on their faces. “What the hell, Max?” Lucas says, standing up and rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Nearly six thirty. Now up and at 'em.” She chucks a pillow at Mike who's still blinking sleepily on the floor. He yells when it hits him square in the face.

Getting to his feet, he throws the pillow back at Max before waving his hands at Will and El. “What's going on?”

“We're going to go to Cerebro first,” Will explains, “so we know for sure Dustin and everyone are still in the elevator.”

After everyone's semi-awake, they leave the basement and grab their bikes, riding off towards the field. Will breathes in the fresh air, the coolness of it making him alert and getting his blood pumping. When they reach the field, they throw their bikes down and begin their trek up to Cerebro.

Lucas groans. “This is not how I like to start my day.”

“No shit, Lucas,” Max says, shaking her head and rushing with El ahead of the boys.

Mike sticks close to Will's side, both of them trailing behind Lucas. “What were you talking about with them before you woke us up?” he asks in a low voice, nodding to the girls.

“Discussing the host,” Will says. “We think there might be more than just Billy.”

“Since when?”

“Since El said she thinks Heather might be one.”

Mike throws his arms up. “Then what are we supposed to do? Find both of them?”

“I guess so.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mike pats Will on the shoulder before tripping over his own feet and tumbling onto the grass. Will rushes to his side, helping him to his feet. “Are you okay?”

Mike rolls his eyes as Lucas chuckles ahead of them. “Oh, shut it, Lucas. Yeah, Will, I'm fine.”

When they reach Cerebro, they collapse beside it, winded. Will turns the radio on. “Hey.” He clears his throat, trying to catch a breath. “Dustin, do you copy? It's Will. Over.”

“Will?” Dustin sounds surprised. “What the hell happened to you? We were waiting all night for you to show up! Over.”

“I know, I'm sorry.” He swallows. “We couldn't find Hopper, and El was drained. We were going to come, I swear. But we're here now. We can get you guys out. Over.”

“Well, you're a little late now, Byers.”

“What do you mean? Over.”

“We're not in the elevator anymore. We're walking down some long ass hallway. Over.”

Will sits up, looking at the others in confusion. “Underneath the mall?”

Steve's voice comes over the radio. “Yes, dipshit. Since you guys couldn't get us out, we had to do it ourselves. You know that green liquid? That shit burns right through the floor.”

“Wait.” Max leans forward. “Does that mean you guys are in the Russian lab now?”

“Don't know about that,” Dustin says. “It's just a hallway so far.”

“There were a couple of guys who came into the elevator to get the boxes though,” Robin adds. “They went back down the hallway which is the only other way to go. It's obviously designed for transporting that cargo.”

“It all comes into the mall like any old delivery,” Dustin says.

“What do you want us to do then?” Will asks. “Are you going to keep going down that hallway? Over.”

“Well, we're not turning back. Over.”

Mike nudges Will on the shoulder, whispering, “This could be good then. They can see if the gate's there.”

Will turns back to the radio. “Okay, guys, when you get to the end of the hallway, we need you to tell us everything you see. Over.”


	29. The Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, El, and Max wait for news from the Scoops Troop. Mike and Lucas find out Nancy and Jonathan are looking for them.

The blades of grass tickle Will's neck and ears. He lays with his back flat on the ground, the radio in his hand, listening to Max and El chatting a few feet away from him. Mike and Lucas went back to Mike's house for food, bringing their walkie-talkies with them in case anything happens, but everything is quiet so far.

“So this Mind Flayer thing,” Robin says over the radio, “possessed you last year and killed a bunch of people in Hawkins Lab, and you got it out of you, but now it's back?”

“Basically,” Will replies.

“And Lucas was there?” Erica asks.

“Yeah.”

“My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don't believe you.”

Dustin snorts. “So you believe everything about El and the Mind Flayer and all of that, but you question your brother's involvement?”

“Correct.”

“Anyways,” Robin continues, “you think the Russians could have some sort of gate to another world opened here under the mall?”

“Yeah.”

“And you want us to find it so you guys can close it?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. And you're not afraid of getting possessed again?”

“I mean... it's not the same as last year. This time, anyone can get Flayed. Not just me.”

“You really are one of the bravest kids I've ever met.”

“I'm really not.”

“Oh, quit being humble, Byers,” Steve cuts in. “I've fought a demogorgon and demodogs, but I couldn't imagine being chased by one of those things for an entire week in the Upside Down. That takes guts.”

“Have you guys seen anything yet?” Will changes the subject.

“Nada,” Dustin replies. “Just hallway as far as the eye can see. Over.”

“Okay, just tell me when you do see something. Over.” Will sets the radio down, sits up, and watches Max teaching El how to braid her hair. “Mike thinks you're corrupting her,” he blurts out at Max but immediately wants to smack himself on the head for it.

Max guffaws. “Mike can go shove it.” Then she eyes Will. “Yeah, we heard you guys at Scoops, you know. Do _you_ think I'm corrupting her?”

“No.”

Max looks back to El who's observing the both of them. “Do you think I'm corrupting you?”

El smiles. “No way.”

“It's because you're the only girls in the Party,” Will says. “He thinks you'll team up against him or something.”

“Bullshit.” Max shakes her head, leaning back on her elbows. “There's four of you to two of us. You guys have us overruled. Either way, we're barely in the Party as it is.”

El frowns, but stays quiet while Will says, “We're not teaming up against each other. We are the team. The Party. Both of you included.”

“Alright, maybe you and Dustin can straighten Lucas and Mike out. Mike especially. Get him to chill the hell out.” Max laughs, stirring up a giggle from El as well.

“Mike's too high-strung for that,” Will says, drawing more laughter from the girls.

“What's that?” Mike asks a few feet away from them. Him and Lucas are climbing up the hill with their arms full of food. When they reach them, they drop the food into a pile by Cerebro. Mike looks at Will.

“Nothing,” he replies, suppressing a laugh when he sees Max and El collapse into a fit of giggles. Mike eyes him suspiciously, then grabs a box of cereal and chucks it to Will before plopping down beside him.

“So what's the news on the Russians?” Mikes nods to the radio.

Opening the box of cereal, Will lifts a shoulder. “They're still in the hallway.”

“Shit,” Lucas says. “That's one long-ass hallway.”

Mike nudges Will. “Hey, so my mom said Nancy and Jonathan were looking for us. You, more specifically.”

“Nancy and Jonathan?” Will frowns, wondering why in the world they were looking for him. “Did your mom say why they're looking for me?”

He shakes his head, reaching into the cereal box in Will's hands and grabbing a handful for himself. “Nope.”

“Huh... maybe it's about my mom.”

“You think?”

“I don't know what else. Unless they know something about the Mind Flayer.”

“Something we don't?”

“It's possible, I guess.” Jonathan _had_ been looking at his photographs of a rabid rat a few nights ago. Could that have something to do with it?

“If it is about your mom, maybe they do know something about the Mind Flayer or the Russians. It can't be a coincidence that they're looking for us while Hopper and your mom are off in Illinois.”

“Did your mom mention where Jonathan and Nancy are?”

“No, all she said was they were looking for us and had something important to ask.”

Letting out a sigh, Will falls onto his back and squints up at the clouds. Lucas puts a hand on his arm. “I wouldn't worry too much. Chances are, it isn't even about the Mind Flayer or the Russians.”

Will forces a smile, hoping he's right.


	30. Our Ticket Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nancy and Jonathan contact the Party. The Scoops Troop finds something.

Will is on his back in the grass beside Mike, both of them staring up at the sky, while Lucas, Max, and El are pointing out which buildings they can see from where they're standing. In his hands, Mike struggles to turn a blade of grass into a whistle.

Will chuckles, flicking the grass out of Mike's hands. Mike looks to him with a pout, but Will rolls his eyes. “You have to use a thicker blade.”

“That one was fine,” Mike insists. “All the others aren't dry enough.”

“I doubt _all_ of them aren't dry enough.”

“Why don't you find one for me then?”

“Oh, come on.” He sits up, pokes Mike's shoulder, and gestures to the grass around them. “We'll find one together.”

Mike sits up with a smirk. The two of them are rifling through the grass when Nancy's voice comes over Mike's walkie-talkie. “Mike? Are you there? It's Nancy. I need you to pick up. It's important.”

Will, Lucas, Max, and El all watch Mike bring his walkie-talkie to his ear. “Hi? What's going on? Over.”

Jonathan's voice replaces Nancy's. “Is Will there?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good. We need to talk to you. Where are you guys?”

Will leans over Mike's shoulder to talk into the walkie-talkie. “Is this about Mom?”

“Mom? No. What's happened to Mom?”

Will and Mike's eyes meet. Mike holds his walkie-talkie closer to Will. “She's gone to Illinois with Hopper. We don't know why.”

“Illinois?”

“Is this about the Mind Flayer then?” Mike asks.

There's silence on the other end before Nancy says, “Is there something you know that we don't?”

“Actually, yes. I think so.”

“What? What is it?”

“The Mind Flayer,” Will says. “He's back, and he's got a new host.”

They can hear the tension through the walkie-talkie. Nancy's voice grows higher. “How do you know?”

“I can feel it.”

“Also,” Mike adds, “we did a test. On Billy, who's the new host.”

“A test?” Nancy says. “What kind of test?”

“We trapped him in a sauna last night to see if he was even the host to begin with, and the Mind Flayer got activated.” Mike chews his bottom lip, his eyebrows drawing together. “Nancy, what's going on?”

“I saw something. Like last year with Will.”

Will sits up, leaning so close to the walkie-talkie he's practically on top of Mike. “What do you mean?”

“I... last night, I went to the hospital to see Mrs. Driscoll, this woman who called the paper a couple days ago about rats eating her fertilizer,” she explains. “Two nights ago, we found her at her house eating her fertilizer, so she was taken to the hospital. When I went to see her, something happened. She started screaming, and I could see something black spreading around her face and her neck. It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened to you, Will, last year.”

“Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer-” Mike says.

“Mrs. Driscoll.”

“Right, yeah, Mrs. Driscoll. What time was this attack?”

“Last night.”

“Right, but what time last night?”

“Around 9:00.”

Jonathan voice grows agitated on the other end. “You waited all night to call?”

“I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests.”

“Wait, Jonathan,” Will cuts in. “You weren't there?”

“Well, I'm here now, aren't I?” Jonathan shoots back.

“Hallelujah,” Nancy mutters.

Lucas feigns pain, and Mike rolls his eyes while Max chuckles.

“Um, so, wha-” Nancy takes a breath. “What time was your... sauna test?”

“Around 9:00,” Mike, Max, and El say.

“Well, that proves it. That proves my theory.”

“She's flayed,” Mike says, “just like Billy,”

“Flayed?” Jonathan asks.

“The Mind Flayer. He flays people. Takes over their mind. Once they do that, they basically become him.”

“If there are two flayed--” Lucas starts.

“Three,” Will cuts in, meeting El's eyes. “We have to assume there are more.”

“Who's the third?” Nancy asks.

“Heather,” El says.

“I'm sorry, I'm lost. Who is Heather?”

“She's a lifeguard at the pool,” Max says.

“Heather Holloway?”

“Yeah.”

There's silence on the other end until Nancy and Jonathan both utter, “Tom.”

“Who?” Will asks.

“Heather's dad,” Nancy says. “He works at Hawkins Post, and he was acting strange yesterday. I thought he was on drugs, but now maybe not.”

“Where are you guys?” Jonathan asks.

“The field by Nelson's farm,” Will says.

“Okay, can you come home now?”

“No, we're sort of in the middle of something right now.”

“What?” Nancy says. “What are you talking about? More important than figuring out what the hell the Mind Flayer is doing back in Hawkins?”

“Actually, sort of. Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Erica are underneath the mall investigating the Russians who we think reopened the gate to the Upside Down. We can only stay in contact with them through Cerebro, and we have to know if they find the gate.”

“What the hell is Cerebro?”

“Dustin's ham radio.”

“What are you doing if they do find the gate?”

“We'll go with El to close it.”

“Won't that kill all the Flayed? Like last year, we had to burn the Mind Flayer out of you before El could close the gate or else you would have died.”

Mike pulls the walkie-talkie away from Will before he can answer and says, “Nancy, we already have a plan. We make sure the gate is there, find Billy and Heather and I guess Mrs. Driscoll, too, and whoever else is Flayed and burn the shit out of them before El closes the gate. Okay? If you want to investigate some more, be my guest, but we can't go anywhere until we know what's going on with Dustin and the others. Over and out.” He shuts off the walkie-talkie before Nancy can answer.

Will gives him a look of annoyance. He grabs for the walkie-talkie, but Mike lurches away, keeping it out of his reach. “What the hell, Mike?”

“What the hell, yourself. We're not going anywhere until Dustin tells us if the gate's down there. We've been waiting around here for-” He checks his watch. “-nearly three hours. We're not moving until we hear from them.”

Will rolls his eyes. “I know that, Mike, but we could have told Nancy and Jonathan to come here instead.”

“Well...” Mike shrugs. “Maybe they'll come anyways. You told them where we were, didn't you?”

“Yeah, but that's not the point.”

Max clears her throat loudly when Mike attempts to say more. She eyes him before saying, “Can we focus on the fact that we now know Billy and Heather aren't the only Flayed?”

“Yeah,” Lucas says. “If there's that many Flayed, then how are we supposed to burn the Mind Flayer out of all of them at once?”

“Wait,” Will says, “you heard what Nancy said about Mrs. Driscoll, right? Her attack was the same time you three did the sauna test on Billy. She must have reacted to the heat when Billy did even though she wasn't near it. Maybe all we need is to burn it out of Billy, and we burn it out of all of them.”

“Okay...” Mike holds out his hand, counting down on his fingers. “So first, we have to find out if the gate's really under Starcourt. Then, if it is, we need to find Billy to burn the Mind Flayer out of him. Once that's done, then El can close the gate.”

“What if the gate isn't there?” Max asks.

“Then we go to Plan B.”

“What the hell is Plan B?”

“We go straight to finding Billy and burning the Mind Flayer out of him.”

Lucas raises his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You were the one who said we can't just burn it out of him. We have to deal with the Mind Flayer.”

“I know, but I don't know how.”

Will looks at El. “Do you know how to defeat the Mind Flayer?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“It's fine. If the gate isn't there, we can always figure out another way to find it.”

Mike huffs. “And what way is that?”

“I don't know.”

“Wait,” Lucas says, “remember how we first found where the gate was?”

Will and Max shake their heads, but Mike and El lean forward a bit.

“Compasses,” Lucas explains, pulling one out of his pocket. “We'll know for sure where the gate is if we follow our compasses.”

They quiet down when Dustin's voice comes over the radio. “Hey, Will,” he says in a low voice. “We're out of the hallway. Over.”

“Really? What do you see? Over.”

“Not much yet. Different hallways. Oh, shit.” He stops talking and the radio cuts out. After a long pause, he comes back on. “That was close. There are Russians everywhere. Over.”

“Relax,” Steve says. “All right? Relax. Nobody saw...” There's another long pause. “Shit! Jesus.”

“What is-” Will starts to say, wringing his hands together nervously, but Dustin hushes him.

“I saw something,” Erica whispers. “First floor, northwest.”

“Saw what?”

“I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in some room. The door was open for a second.”

“That could be anything,” Dustin tells her.

“I'll take those odds,” Robin says.

Steve huffs. “Well, Byers, what do you think?”

“As long as you don't kill yourselves getting in there, I'd check it out. Over.”

There's an audible sigh before Steve agrees. “We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?”

“Okay,” Robin says. Will and the others wait in anticipation as the radio goes quiet.

“What do we do if they do find the gate?” Max asks. “Should we go there and get them out before we find Billy?”

“Yeah, we have to,” Lucas says. “The longer they're down there, the more chances of them getting caught.”

“We're in!” Dustin says over the radio. “It's a comms room. Steve just knocked some guard out! Over.”

“What are you doing?” Erica asks.

“Getting us our ticket out of here,” Dustin says.

“You want to walk all the way back?” Erica says.

“Well, we can hang out for a little bit,” Dustin says. “Relax, have a picnic maybe.”

“Guys, calm down,” Will tells them.

“Don't tell us to calm down,” Erica shoots back. “We're the ones stuck in a Russian base underneath the damn mall!”

“Erica!” Lucas scolds.

“You know we can get you,” Will is saying. “We just needed to know, since you guys are already down there, if the gate is somewhere there.”

“I don't know, Byers,” Steve says. “I'm not seeing anything.”

Then they hear Robin say, “Guys, there's something up there.”

Pounding footsteps echo from the radio. Will sits up, his heartbeat quickening.

“Holy shit,” Dustin says. “Looks like we found your gate, Byers.”


	31. The Station Wagon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something goes wrong with the Scoops Troop, and Will, Mike, Lucas, Max, and El rush to get to them.

Mike, Lucas, El, and Max are on their feet, Mike pacing around the grass impatiently, while Will kneels next to the radio and listens to Dustin explain what he sees in the Russian base. “It's definitely the gate. There's some machine firing into it also. A shit ton of people. I think the green liquid we found in the boxes is powering the machine.”

“Are there guards around it?” Will asks.

“I think so, but I can't tell. There are a lot of people. Scientists. Some probably guards, yeah.”

Will looks to his friends. “What now?”

Mike stops pacing to stare at the ground. “We need to get there. We'll get Dustin and the others out and then find Billy.”

“Okay. Dustin, you still there? Over.”

“Yeah, still here.” Footsteps bang on metal over the radio.

“Alright, so we're going to get you guys out. Is there any way you can get to the elevator or at least back to the hallway leading there? Over.”

He doesn't answer. There's a commotion before a siren begins wailing over the radio. “Code red! Code red!” Dustin shouts. “We've been compromised!”

“What's going on?” Will asks, glancing at Mike, Lucas, El, and Max's worried expressions as yelling and the bang of metal echoes over the radio.

“ _Shit_!” Dustin screams, a whirring drowning him out.

Mike drops down beside Will. “Dustin, are you guys okay? Tell us what's going on!”

“Go!” Steve shouts before static overtakes the radio.

Will meets Mike's wide eyes. “What are we going to do?”

“I don't know.”

He looks to El. “Do you think you can find them? See what's going on?”

“I'll try.” She sits cross-legged on the grass. Lucas gives her his bandana to wear as a blindfold, and everyone goes silent. She barely starts before Dustin's voice cuts in. “Will, are you there? It's Dustin. Over.”

Will grabs the radio. “Yes, I'm here! What happened? Over.”

“We've got a huge problem. Steve and Robin have just been captured by the Russians, and Erica and I are in the vents. Over.”

Lucas furrows his eyebrows. “Hold up. What?”

“What happened?” Will asks.

“The Russian guy Steve beat up got away and then set off an alarm, so we had to run away. Erica and I were able to escape into the vents, but Steve and Robin were captured. I don't know what they've done to them. Over.”

Will turns to the others. “We have to get to them. Now.”

Mike nods and gets to his feet while Will quickly says, “We're coming to get you guys, Dustin. We need to get Steve and Robin first, so you and Erica get somewhere safe for now. Over.”

“Alright, hurry. Over and out.”

The five of them race down the field, their shoes smashing over the grass. Will's heart pounds in his ears. He should've expected this. There had to be something that would go wrong in their plan, yet he didn't prepare himself for it.

When they're halfway down the hill, Lucas grabs Mike and Will's arms, gesturing to the street. “Hey, Mike, isn't that your family's station wagon?”

Parked by their bikes is indeed the Wheeler's station wagon. Jonathan and Nancy are standing beside it, and the instant they see the kids, they rush up the hill and meet them halfway. Nancy hones in on Will. “We need to talk.”

Mike moves closer to Will's side. “What about?”

“We need to find the Flayed before they do anything. I know you're looking for the gate, but we should find the Flayed before that so then you can close the gate without killing them.”

“We already know where the gate is,” Will says, “but Steve and Robin have been captured by the Russians. We might not have much time to save them if they're in danger, so we need to get to the mall right away.”

He tries to move past Nancy, but she grabs his arm. “Is the gate there?”

“Yes, underneath the mall.”

“Why do all of you need to go then?”

Will furrows his eyebrows at her.

“I just mean,” she goes on, “if El is the only one who can close the gate, couldn't her and a few of you go to the mall to save Steve and Robin and close the gate while the rest of you come with us to look for the Flayed?”

“Why would we do that?” Mike asks. “Saving our friends is our top priority right now.”

“Multi-tasking, Mike,” Nancy says.

Will pauses. “She's right. I mean, if we're already going to the Russian base, we could close the gate at the same time.”

“That means we'll have to find Billy first,” Max reminds them.

“Exactly,” Nancy says. “While some of you go to the mall, the rest of us can find him.”

“Alright,” Mike says, “so who's going where? El, obviously you have to go to the mall to close the gate.”

“I'm going with El,” Lucas says. “I need to make sure Erica's okay.”

Jonathan motions to his brother. “Will, you should come with us. I don't want anything happening to you while I'm not with you.”

Will crosses his arms and shakes his head. “I'll be fine. I need to help get Dustin and everyone else out of there. I'm part of the reason they got stuck there in the first place.”

“Will, I'm not letting you out of my sight.”

“Plus,” Max adds, “can't you sense the Mind Flayer?”

Jonathan and Nancy raise their eyebrows. “You can?”

“Yeah.” Will shrugs. “I can sense when he's nearby if he's activated.”

“Okay,” Jonathan says, “then you have to come with us. ”

“Then it's settled,” Mike says before nodding to Max. “You can go with them, too, and I'll go with El and Lucas.”

Will frowns. “How come?”

“Billy is her brother. She can help find him. She'll know where to he might be.” He gives Will a hard look which makes Will's stomach churn, but Will stares right back at him until Mike drops his gaze. “That way, there's four of you looking for Billy or the other Flayed and three of us getting Dustin and the others out of the Russian base.”

Nancy and Jonathan gesture for the kids to follow, and they go the rest of the way down the hill. Grabbing their bikes, Will and Max shoving their's in the back of the station wagon. “Okay,” Max says, patting El on the shoulder. “Be careful.”

Will nods at Lucas. “Get to the comms room in the Russian base as soon as you can, so we know that you've gotten to the gate.”

“No problem.”

“Good luck.”

“You, too.” Lucas gets on his bike, and Mike gets on his own with El. They wave before pedaling off towards the mall while Will, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan pile into the station wagon, Will and Max in the back and Nancy and Jonathan up front.

“Where would we find him?” Will asks as Nancy starts the car.

“You said Heather could be a host, right?” Nancy asks. Will and Max nod. “I'm pretty sure Tom could be as well, so we can go to their house first to see if they're there. If so, maybe we just need to burn the Mind Flayer out of them and it'll get out of Billy as well.”


	32. The Holloways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan go to the Holloway's house.

Nancy knocks on the front door of the Holloway's house, rattling the doorknob. Locked. Kneeling beside the door, Max fishes a bobby pin out of her hair and fiddles with the lock until it clicks open. They walk slowly inside, cold air enveloping them.

“Tom?” Nancy calls. “Heather?”

The house is silent. As the four of them walk through one of the rooms, Nancy turns her head. “Do you guys smell that?”

A suffocating scent of chemicals greet them when they venture into the kitchen, bottles splayed out on the floor and counters. “Oh, god,” Nancy says, holding her hand to her face. “More chemicals.”

“You think they're guzzling this shit?” Jonathan asks, peering around at all the empty containers.

“Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree.”

Glancing at Will, Max frowns. “Last year, Will didn't drink chemicals. Did you?”

He shakes his head. “No, this is something new.”

“But what?”

“When you mix chemicals, you create a new substance.”

“What if they're making something?”

They head into the living room where a bottle of wine is lying in the middle of the floor, a stain in the carpet next to it. Nancy kneels down and presses her fingertips to the stain. “Blood.”

They stare at the wine bottle. “Yesterday,” Nancy goes on, “Tom had a bandage on his forehead... He was attacked.”

They follow the trail of blood down the hall and into the garage where they find a piece of rope on the ground. “They must have tied them,” Jonathan says, kneeling down to examine the rope. “They must have taken them somewhere.”

“Mrs. Driscoll,” Nancy says. “She kept saying... 'I have to go back.' What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place where all this started, right? A source. If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him. Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals.”

“But how do we find the source?” Max asks.

An idea pops into Will's head. “Mrs. Driscoll,” he says. “If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?”


	33. The Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan go to the hospital to find Mrs. Driscoll.

As they walk up to the hospital, Will gets an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. They go inside and start following Nancy to Mrs. Driscoll's room, but the woman at the reception desk yells at them swiftly. “Excuse me, where do you think you're going?”

They halt, and Nancy turns to her. “Oh, um... I was just going to visit my grandma again.”

The woman puts her hand on her hip.

“And – and this...” Nancy motions to Jonathan, Will, and Max. “This is my family.”

The woman gives her a look. “I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Two!”

Nancy and Jonathan look to Will and Max. “Wait here. We'll be back soon with a plan,” Jonathan says before he and Nancy rush off down the hallway.

Will and Max go to the waiting area. There's a vending machine in one corner, some chairs against the wall, and a table with a few magazines on it in another corner. While Max goes to look at the magazines, Will ducks over to the vending machine to check out what's inside. He puts in a couple quarters for a packet of Reese's pieces, and he watches the packet slowly move forward. Then it stops, stuck.

Making a face, Will rattles the machine. “Seriously?” he mutters.

Max trots up beside him. “What are you getting?” She looks to the machine and, seeing the packet of Reese's pieces wavering on the edge of the line, smacks her hand against the glass. The packet doesn't budge.

Will and Max knock on it a couple more times before Max takes out some quarters from her pocket and hands them to Will. “Here, try it again.”

Will frowns at the coins in his hand. “No, it's okay.” He tries handing them back to Max, but she moves her hands away. “Max, it's fine. I've got more of my own. You can get something yourself.”

“Then use those to get me something, and you can use your quarters to get your's.”

Will eyes her before shrugging and sticking the quarters in the machine. He gets Max a packet of Skittles, then puts his quarters in and gets himself the packet of Reese's pieces.

They take a seat in the chairs, eating their candy slowly. Will sits up straight when he feels a tingle in the back of his neck, but it vanishes as quick as it came.

Max scrunches her nose at him.“Are you okay?”

Will turns to look at her, shaking off the feeling. “Yeah, fine. The hospital just creeps me out a bit.”

Nodding, Max goes back to eating her Skittles. “If we find the source, what do we do then? How does that get the Mind Flayer out of the Flayed?”

“Billy might be there. We get him, burn it out of him, and hopefully, that'll burn it out of all of the Flayed.”

“I hope so.” She looks to him. “You really think we'll be able to get it out of him?”

“I think we can try.” He leans back in the chair. “I'm just worried about the others. What if something goes wrong, and the Russians capture them as well?”

“That won't happen. El can take them.”

“I know she can take them, but they're basically going in there defenseless with no idea where Steve and Robin are. I just hope nothing happens.”

Max finishes her Skittles and crunches the empty packet in her hand. “Nothing will. Don't worry. The only thing I'm worried about is how we're going to get the Mind Flayer out of Billy soon enough for El to close the gate.”

Will huffs. “Yeah, I know.” He leans over the side of the chair and peers down the hallway Jonathan and Nancy had gone down. “I wish I knew what Jonathan and Nancy are doing.”

Max nudges him. “We could always go and see.”

“The lady at the desk said only two at a time.”

“Yeah, but if she doesn't see us go up, she can't stop us.” Max grins menacingly, eliciting a laugh from Will.

“Okay, fine, but not right now. She'll see us for sure.”

“Right, we'll wait until she's distracted...” Max turns towards Will and clasps her hands in her lap. “Will, can I ask you something?”

His eyebrows draw together. “Sure?”

“I didn't want to ask when we were with El in the field, but I was wondering... is there something going on with you and Mike?”

His heart skips a beat, but he tells himself to calm down. She can't mean what he thinks. There's no way she can know about what happened. But he can't seem to get any words out of his mouth to answer her.

“Sorry,” Max says quickly. “I meant... well, I've noticed for a while now that...” Her face contorts as she struggles to come up with what to say. “You see, I don't want to offend you or anything, and I really didn't think too much about it before, but lately, it seems a bit different than earlier this summer...”

Will's panic is subsiding in exchange for confusion. “What?”

Her eyes looking to the ceiling, Max takes a breath. “Those movie dates we would go on. I guess that's when the thought first crossed my mind. Barely, to be honest, because it wasn't much. Just the situation in general, I think. I don't know exactly when, but recently it's become a bit more apparent, at least to me, that there's something... different than before. With you and Mike.”

His stomach twists. “Max, what are you talking about?”

“I heard you two last night. Talking. I know it was really just talking, but then I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and I saw his arms around you.”

Will's breath hitches. When had that happened? He couldn't remember Mike having his arms around him last night.

“I'm sorry, I'm not trying to...” Her face grows worried. “Sorry, Will. Maybe I was reading the situation wrong. I'm not trying to accuse you of anything or... it's just, I thought if I was right, you might want to talk about it.”

He swallows. “Why?”

“Well, I noticed Mike was a bit... you know how he is.”

“Huh?”

“No, I just mean that he's been acting... dumb as hell. Treating you like garbage. I thought he only got that way with El and me, but have you noticed anything? You know, how he'll give you that look or argue with you like he does with El and me?”

“You noticed that?”

“Only a bit. I didn't think he was like that with you before. That's why I was surprised by it.”

His stomach churns like a fire is burning inside him. “Who – who else has noticed?”

Max lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “No clue. Maybe just me. I haven't mentioned it to anyone, and no one's mentioned it to me. You guys aren't that obvious... but is it true then?” She shakes her head. “Sorry, you don't have to tell me.”

He considers it and tries to calm himself down enough to speak by looking away from Max. His eyes land on the woman at the reception desk. Her body is facing the opposite direction, a phone in her hand. Seeing the woman occupied, Will nudges Max, hops out of the chair, and runs for it, sprinting down the hallway towards the stairwell. Max tears after him, her footsteps pounding against the tile. He doesn't slow down until he's in the doorway of Mrs. Driscoll's room. Max screeches to a stop next to him. “Where are they?” she asks as they stare into the empty room.

“I don't know.” Pieces of a broken flower vase are lying on the floor, water in a puddle surrounding them. Will slaps his hand up to the back of his neck as a tingle rushes through his body. He backs out of the room.

“What is it?” Max gives him a worried look.

“Something's wrong. We need to find Jonathan and Nancy.” They walk briskly down the hallway, peering into different rooms for any sign of the older teenagers. The lights flicker above their heads. Will hugs himself tightly.

“Did Jonathan still have your Supercom with him?” Max asks, holding up her own walkie-talkie.

Will bites his lip. “I don't think so.”

They both jump when someone clears their throat behind them. Whipping around, they stand face-to-face with a middle-aged man who is sweating profusely. Will recognizes him from the portraits in the Holloway's house. Tom.

“Now what do you kids think you're doing?” He takes a step closer to them.

Max grabs Will's hand, stepping backwards slowly. “What did you do with Nancy and Jonathan?”

Tom grins. “Oh, don't worry, they're being taken care of.”

Will's heart skips a beat. He spins around with Max, and they sprint down the hallway. Tom's pounding footsteps follow them. “Here,” Max whispers and ducks into a room. They shut the door, glance about, and dive behind a surgical table. Max turns on her walkie-talkie and hisses, “Code red, this is a code red! Lucas, Mike, are you there? If anyone's there, we need you to come to the hospital. This is an emergency! Tom is here, and he's done something to-”

The door slams open, the crash of it smashing against the wall echoing throughout the room. Max shuts off her walkie-talkie, and Will covers his mouth, his hands trembling. Footsteps draw closer. The lights flicker. Max wraps her hand around Will's arm. He looks to her, and she gestures to the left side of the table. The footsteps are drawing closer from their right. Will gives her a swift nod, and they dash out from behind the table and sprint towards the door.

Max lets out a shout when Tom yanks her back by her hair and throws her to the ground. Tom then grasps Will's shirt collar and twists it in his fist. “Going somewhere?” Tom growls.

Will shoves Tom backwards, tearing out of his grasp, and rushes over to Max as she staggers to her feet. She clutches Will's arms to steady herself.

“Are you okay?” Will asks her, but her eyes grow wide.

“Watch out!” She pulls him to the side as Tom slashes a pair of scissors at them. The blades slice into his arm. Will jerks away, holding the shallow cut on his skin and ducking to the floor with Max when Tom flings the scissors at them. They barely miss Max's ear.

Before they can get up, Tom kicks Max in the face, knocking her on her back. She holds her arms over her face when Tom smashes his heel at her. Will latches onto Tom's leg, digging his nails into it, but Tom yanks his leg out of Will's hold then surges forward and grabs Will by the throat, lifting him into the air. Will chokes, clawing at Tom's hands and kicking his legs at him, struggling to take a breath. Black spots dance in his vision. His body burns. All he can hear is blood pounding in his ears. His brain feels like it's about to burst.

Air explodes into his lungs as Tom's grip on his throat releases when Max smashes Tom over the head with her walkie-talkie. Will collapses to the ground, but Max pulls him to his feet, and they stumble out of the room. As they tear down the hallway, Will lets out a hoarse cough, rubbing his throat. The back of his neck tingles. Max turns her walkie-talkie back on and screams into it, “Lucas, Mike, _anyone_ , do you copy? This is a code red! We need you to help us! Please!”

Glancing behind them, Will realizes Tom is nowhere in sight. He slows down and puts a hand out in front Max. “Max, he's not following us.”

They come to a halt. Max whips her head back and forth. “Where is he? Where'd he go?”

“I don't know.” Will listens to the buzzing of the ceiling lights. The tingling in his neck grows stronger, but the dread that usually accompanies it hasn't fallen over him yet.

Max rubs her arms. “He couldn't have just vanished, could he?”

Running his hand over the back of his neck, Will watches the lights flash. “We need to find Jonathan and Nancy.”

They rush through the hallways, peering into each room but finding no one, and then go to the next floor down. When they exit the stairwell, they gape at the bodies of dead doctors and nurses strewn about the floor. The wave of dread hits Will like he's jumped naked into a frozen lake. From the distance comes screaming. Will and Max look to each other before they tear down the hallway, the lights popping and crackling above their heads. Jonathan's voice echoes not far from them. They push through a door into an area of the hospital under construction and as they turn the corner, the feeling of dread in the back of Will's neck grows stronger.

Jonathan is smashing the window to one of the rooms, screaming Nancy's name, when Will and Max get to him. Max grabs at the door knob, but it's locked. Seeing as she no longer has a bobby pin, she begins kicking the door desperately as Nancy's screams emanate from behind it. Taking a step back, Will holds his forearm in front of him before rushing at the window, slamming into it as hard as he can. The glass shatters like ice, scraping the skin on his arm, but Will ignores the cuts and helps Jonathan climb through the broken window into the room. He helps Max in before jumping through himself.

“What the fu-” Max and Will gape at the meaty creature hovering above Nancy, its head turned towards them as it lets out a shriek. The lights in the room flicker. Jonathan bashes the creature in the face with a stool while Nancy staggers to her feet. Max rushes to help Nancy, but the creature, turning its attention away from Jonathan, whips a limb out at the two girls, flinging them backwards. They hit the wall and slump to the ground.

The monster turns back to Jonathan and throws him against a wall. “Jonathan!” Will screams as his brother crumples to the floor, knocked out. The monster moves closer to Jonathan, roaring. Glancing desperately at Max and Nancy who are trying to get to their feet, Will leaps in between his brother and the monster, screaming, “Go away! _Go away_!”

The lights above them shine brighter, blinding, until they burst, the glass shattering onto the tile floor. The monster shrieks into Will's face, spraying a slimy goo over him.

“Will!” Max shouts from the other side of the room. “Will, run!”

But there's nowhere to run. Will stares into the black eyes of the monster and screams as loud as his vocal chords let him. His neck tingles, his heart pounds, his body is cold like he's back in the Upside Down. He squeezes his eyes shut and continues to scream. A wave of searing heat falls over him. The roar of the monster turns into a deafening shriek. Will opens his eyes to see a fire blazing in front of him, searing the monster's flesh. It screeches, flinging its limbs about and staggering around the room to escape the flames. Nancy ducks around the monster, grabs the boards of wood lying on the floor, and tosses one to Max before smashing the monster in its face. Max joins in, wailing on the monster. Will shakes Jonathan until he wakes up, and they both stagger to their feet, keeping close to the wall to avoid the fire. Unlocking the door, Jonathan dashes out of the room and returns with the metal tank he'd used to try and break the window.

“Hey!” Jonathan shouts to catch the monster's attention and flings the tank at its head. It whips back, leaving a crack in the window behind it.

“Max!” Will yells from the other side of the fire. “The window!”

Max glances at it, nudges Nancy, and they begin smashing the glass. The monster flings an arm at them, but Jonathan throws a board of wood at it. Will shouts to Max when the monster turns on Jonathan, and she tosses the board of wood to Will. He sticks it into the fire until it lights up, and with all the force he can muster, he thrusts the flaming board at the monster, screaming, “Go to hell!”

The board hits the monster right in it's shrieking mouth, and the fire spreads over its flesh. It jerks back, its scream piercing the air. Will screams back at it, covering his ears. The fire spreads faster. Flinging around desperately, the monster smashes into the window behind it and shatters the glass before vanishing through it.

The smell of charred flesh hangs in the air. Nancy and Max stare wide-eyed at the window. Taking a step forward, Nancy gapes out of it and gasps. She turns and dashes out the door. Will, Max, and Jonathan meet eyes before running out as well. They sprint out the doors of the hospital in time to see the last bits of the monster ooze down a sewer drain.


	34. On Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan meet up with the rest of the Party and the Scoops Troop at the cabin.

Panting, Will and Max collapse on the grass beside Cerebro. Jonathan and Nancy stand above them, wiping sweat off their foreheads. Will lets out a cough, his throat sore and scratchy, which only leads to a minute-long coughing fit. Max grabs the radio. “Does anyone copy? Lucas, Mike? It's Max. We have something important to tell you. Over.” She pauses before repeating herself. “Do you copy? This is Max, Will, Nancy, and Jonathan. We have important information to share. Extremely important. Do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?”

“Max?” Lucas answers. “What's going on? Did you get the Mind Flayer out of Billy already? We're still in the hallway. Over.”

“No, we didn't. That's the problem. There's something... wrong. We need you guys to meet us back at Hopper's cabin. Over.”

“What?” Mike says. “Now? We can't. Over.”

“Not now, but as soon as possible. Get Dustin and the others, then get the hell out of there. You can't close the gate yet. Over.”

“What's going on? Over.”

“The Flayed. They're...” Max looks to Will, lifting a shoulder to ask _what the hell are they?_ He has no idea. Staring at the ground, Max lets out a breath.

Jonathan leans down and takes the radio from her. “We ran into Tom and Bruce at the hospital, and they turned into some kind of... monster. I don't think burning the Mind Flayer out of Billy is going to be as easy as we thought it would be. Over.”

There's silence on the other end until Lucas says, “Okay. We'll meet you at the cabin once we find the others. It'll probably take a couple more hours, but we'll be there. Over and out.”

Groaning, Will and Max get to their feet and follow Nancy and Jonathan down the hill. All of them are breathing heavily and covered in sweat by the time they get back in the car. No one says a word the entire ride to the cabin.

When they get inside, Will, Nancy, and Max plop down onto the couch while Jonathan brings them each a glass of water before sitting on the armchair beside them. He winces as he sits down, rubbing his back.

“Are you okay?” Will asks, sipping his water.

Jonathan shrugs. “I think so. Bruce hit me with a stool.” He gestures to Will's arm. “Are you okay? Maybe we should bandage that up.”

Will examines the cut on his arm from the scissors Tom slashed at him. It's not deep, but it reaches nearly the entire length of his forearm. “Um, sure... yeah.”

Jonathan goes over to the bathroom, shifting through the cabinet for bandages, but all he finds is gauze and tape. He brings it over to Will along with a wet washcloth. Max sighs, watching Jonathan wash Will's wound before covering it with the gauze and tape. “They really need better medical supplies here.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan murmurs, “well, we can head to the store tomorrow or something. Get more supplies.” He finishes taping the gauze on Will's arm and pats him on the shoulder but falters when he looks at Will's bruised neck. “What happened there?”

“Oh.” Will traces the sore skin. “That guy, Tom, grabbed me. I'm fine, though. Don't worry.”

“Okay. Just tell me if it feels worse.” Jonathan gestures to the cut on Max's forehead where Tom had kicked her. “Want me to bandage that up?”

She nods, and Jonathan tapes gauze over the cut. “I'm sorry you two had to go through all that,” Jonathan tells Max and Will. “I know it's stupid after everything that's happened the last two years, but I never would have expected what happened tonight.”

“It was crazy,” Nancy said. “I don't think anyone would've expected it.”

Max shrugs. “At this point, we should expect anything.”

“What more could there be to expect?” Will murmurs, more out of exasperation than ignorance, fully aware at this point that anything could go wrong at any moment.

“Whatever it is, we'll prepare ourselves for it.” Jonathan frowns and huffs. “In the meantime, why don't we get some sleep? I'm exhausted.”

They gather up blankets from around the cabin and find places to rest; Max taking the couch, Nancy and Jonathan lying on the floor, and Will curling up on the armchair. They keep the lights on for when the others arrive, but it doesn't keep them from quickly falling into a slumber.

He's not sure how long he was asleep, but it feels like barely a second when voices jolt Will awake. Clearing his dry throat, he squints around the room until his eyes land on Nancy by the phone and Jonathan leaning his elbows on the kitchen counter. He sits up in the armchair, listening to Nancy. “Yeah, okay. I'm on my way.” She hangs up the phone and grabs her keys. Jonathan moves to follow her, but she holds a hand up at him. “You should stay here and look after Will and Max. We won't be long.”

She leaves the cabin in a rush. Will yawns, stretching, and as he turns to Jonathan, his voice comes out hoarse. “Where – where's she going?”

“Picking up the others at the mall. I guess the Russians took the keys to Steve's car, and they're pretty beat up, so they can't ride their bikes.”

“What time is it?”

“Four forty-five.”

Will gets to his feet and squints out the window. He can barely see a thing. Sitting back down in the armchair, he traces his fingers over the gauze on his arm.

“Does it hurt?” Jonathan takes a seat on the couch beside Max's feet.

“No, only itches a bit. How's your back?”

Jonathan scrunches up his nose. “Not great, but I can handle it.”

“I would suggest going to the hospital, but after what happened, I don't think it's the best place to go at the moment.” He lets out a laugh, but quiets down when Max rolls over.

Her eyes open, blinking hard as her eyebrows knit together. “Hey, what's going on? Are the others back yet?” She sits up, rubbing her eyes.

Jonathan shakes his head. “Nancy's gone to get them since they don't have another car.”

“So everyone got out alright?”

“As far as we know.”

“Okay, good.” There's a beat of silence before Max nudges Will on his good arm. “About the hospital...”

He raises an eyebrow at her. “What about it?”

“Do you know what happened? In the room with the monster...”

Will blinks while Jonathan sits back and asks, “What happened?”

Max stares at Will as if expecting an answer, but he stays quiet, sinking into the armchair. She gives him a look before turning to Jonathan. “When you were knocked unconscious, all the lights burst, and the monster – the Mind Flayer – it caught on fire. I'm sure you saw the fire when you woke up.”

“Caught on fire from the lights?”

Will watches as Max glances to the floor and then to him. “I don't think so.”

“What do you mean?” Silence fills the room. No one answers Jonathan until he frowns, leaning forward, and repeats his question. “What do you mean, you don't think so? What happened? What aren't you telling me?”

Max's eyes are planted on Will. She nudges him insistently, but he shoots her a confused look. She takes a breath and says, “From what I saw, the fire started out of nowhere. The Mind Flayer, it was coming at you and Will and shrieking and the lights burst and Will, you started screaming, and suddenly, the Mind Flayer set on fire.”

Jonathan glances between the two of them. “What are you saying?”

Both their eyes are set on Will as Max says, “Will, I think you set the Mind Flayer on fire.”

Will shakes his head. “I didn't do anything.”

“Yes, you did,” Max insists. “I saw it with my own two eyes. Nancy, too. You set that thing on fire.”

“That couldn't have been me. It must've been the lights. The electricity or something.”

Max frowns. “Look, I'm not an idiot. I saw what I saw, and it wasn't normal.”

“Nothing at the hospital was normal.”

“Will,” Jonathan says, putting a hand on his knee, “I think she could be right. You can sense the Mind Flayer after all, so maybe you developed other powers after what happened last year.”

He knows Jonathan has a point, but he isn't sure it's powers from the Mind Flayer. Hugging himself, he eyes his brother and Max. “Well, what about it?”

“Will,” Jonathan says, “if you can set that thing on fire, we have a better chance of defeating it.”

Max nods enthusiastically. “With both El and you, there's no way the Mind Flayer will win.”

Will sighs, putting his face in his hands. “Guys,” he mumbles, “I don't know how. I don't know how I did that.”

“But you can figure it out, can't you?” Max asks. “You can... practice, right?”

“I don't know.”

Jonathan pats his shoulder. “It's fine. Don't worry about it.”

“Don't worry about it?” He raises his head to look at them both. “How am I supposed to not worry if everyone's counting on me? If I can do what you say, if I can help defeat it, how am I not supposed to worry that I'll disappoint you?”

“Hey.” Jonathan puts both hands on his shoulders, staring him in the eyes. “Nothing you do will ever disappoint me, Will.”

“I can't handle it if I could help everyone but can't figure out how. What if I can't do anything, Jonathan?”

“Then it doesn't matter. If all of us work together, we'll be okay. We'll be right where we were before. The only thing that matters is that you're safe.”

Will opens his mouth to protest, apologize for not being able to do more, but they all flinch when the door slams open, Dustin and Steve stumbling inside. Steve's face is bleeding profusely, swollen and sweaty. Will, Max, and Jonathan get to their feet. “Jesus,” Will murmurs. “Steve, what happened?”

“The Russians, that's what happened,” Dustin answers, helping Steve to the couch. He gestures to the gauze on Will's arm. “Any more of that somewhere?”

Jonathan rushes into the bathroom and comes back with the remaining gauze, tape, and a wet washcloth. While he kneels in front of Steve and helps to bandage him up, Nancy, Robin, Erica, El, Lucas, and Mike barge in through the door, Mike and Lucas holding a stumbling El up.

“El!” Max rushes over to her and helps her to the couch. She collapses beside Steve, the lower half of her face red with blood. Max looks to Mike and Lucas. “What happened to her?”

“She's drained,” Mike says in an annoyed tone. Giving him the side-eye, Max grabs a box of tissues and starts dabbing the blood off El's face. Face pale and hair disheveled, El groans and flops back into the cushions of the couch.

Lucas leans against the back of the couch. “Nancy explained what you guys saw in the hospital. What do you think that means? Can we still burn the Mind Flayer out of the Flayed or not?”

“We have no idea,” Jonathan says. “That monster melted into the sewer, so it could still be lurking somewhere.”

Erica steps forward, wielding a metal pole of some sort. “If we come across it, we could kill it with this.” She presses a button on the pole, and it lights up in sparks of electricity.

“Erica!” Lucas yells as everyone flinches away from her.

“What? It's a useful weapon.”

Dustin frowns at her, prying the taser out of her hands and setting it down by the door. “Yeah, but we don't want you killing anyone right now.”

As Erica rolls her eyes, Nancy goes into Hopper's room and comes out with a handful of blankets. “C'mon. Once El and Steve are cleaned up, we should all get some rest. We'll figure out what to do about the Flayed and the Russians in the morning.”

While Jonathan and Dustin help Steve, and Max helps El, everyone else rummages around the cabin for more blankets and pillows. Will slips into the bathroom to check his neck and sees it's riddled with bruises, red and blue reaching from right below his jaw down to his collarbone. He winces as he brings his fingertips to his skin.

“Jesus,” Mike says when he appears behind Will, gaping at the bruises.

Will spins around and finds himself stuck between Mike and the edge of the sink. “It's fine,” he says quickly and tries to slip past him but stops when he notices a cut on Mike's left cheek. “What happened there?”

“Russian guard punched me.”

“Oh... sorry.” His eyes wander past Mike's head to where El is sitting on the couch. She rubs her eyes as Max says something to her. “How's El doing?”

“Overworked. She needs to rest.”

Will nods but falters when Dustin walks past the bathroom, and their eyes interlock. Dustin raises an eyebrow at him. Breath hitching, Will realizes his and Mike's faces are a bit too close, and he pushes past Mike and rushes into the living room, ignoring the look Dustin's giving him as everyone else finds their places to sleep. Seeing the armchair empty, he grabs a blanket and curls up onto the chair while Steve takes the couch, El and Max go to El's room, and everyone else makes do on the floor.

In a few minutes, nearly everyone has fallen asleep, but before Will can fully nod off, a hand shakes his shoulder. He jolts up, eye-to-eye with Mike. “Want to talk a bit?” Mike whispers. Will hesitates before nodding, and as soon as he does, Mike takes his hand and leads him outside to the porch. Closing the door quietly behind them, Mike takes a seat on the steps.

“Sorry if I seemed a bit harsh before we split up,” Mike says, his eyes on his hands as Will sits beside him. “I was just worried about Dustin and the others.”

Will shrugs, staring out into the night. “It's fine. I was worried, too.”

He gestures to Will's injured arm. “Was that from the Mind Flayer monster?”

“Oh... no, I cut it on a window trying to get into one of the hospital rooms.” His muscles tense when Mike grazes his fingers over the gauze. “It's not bad.”

“And the bruises on your neck?”

Will's hands move to cover the marks, but Mike pushes them away, leaning forward to stare at the bruises. “Those are finger marks.”

“I'm fine,” Will insists.

“Your whole throat is blue and red.”

“It looks worse than it is.”

Mike glances from his throat to his eyes. “It was a bit useless splitting up then. We all could've gone to the Russian base.”

“It wasn't all useless. If we hadn't gone looking for the Flayed, we wouldn't know that they turn into those... things.”

Mike nods. “You're right. At least we got everyone here. It was crazy down there.”

“In the Russian base?”

“Yeah, there were guards everywhere. They kept coming at us in hoards. I still can't believe El was able to take them.”

He pictured Steve's bashed face in his head. “What did the Russians do to Steve and Robin?”

“Not sure,” Mike says. “Just beat Steve up from the looks of it. We found them tied up in chairs in a room. Took us a while to get to them since we also had to go searching for Dustin and Erica. They'd left the vents by the time we got to them, and I think they were planning on taking on the Russians on their own with that damn Russian taser.”

“You never know.” Will nudges his shoulder, a smile tugging at his lips. “They could've taken the Russians on.”

“By themselves? Yeah, Dustin and Erica with their Russian taser, beating the Russians. Saving the day.” Mike laughs, his shoulder pressing against Will's. Will looks to him, smiling, and their eyes meet. Their laughter dies down, but they don't say a word. His heart is racing in his chest. _This is your chance_ , he tells himself. _Say something._ But he can't get his vocal chords to work, so instead, he leans forward and pecks Mike on the lips. It's quick, only a second, and he pulls back just as fast, searching Mike's face for a negative reaction. Mike blinks.

Will opens his mouth to apologize, but Mike grabs his shirt collar and yanks him forward, smashing their lips together. His neck is sore, but Will still sinks into the kiss, letting his hands run through Mike's hair and tugging it when Mike curls a hand around his waist and pulls him closer. His mind goes directly back to that night in his living room. Their first kiss. That one was softer, a bit awkward. This time, it's like they've been waiting their whole lives for this moment, their movements more desperate. Will's breath hitches as Mike's hand moves underneath his shirt, warm against Will's bare skin. Out of breath, they both pull back, staring each other in the eyes. Will leans forward again, but Mike removes his hand from underneath Will's shirt and puts it on his chest, keeping him back. “I should check on El.” Mike stands, starting towards the door.

“Always running back to El,” Will mutters, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Mike stops short, gawking at Will. “What did you just say?”

He shakes his head bitterly. “Nothing. Doesn't matter.”

“Why are you still angry at me?”

“I'm not angry.” Will stares at the ground so as not to glare at Mike instead. “I'm confused.”

“Confused? About what? Me and El?”

A laugh escapes Will's throat. “Oh, right. You and El. Star-crossed lovers.”

“What?” Mike's eyebrows knit together. “What are you talking about?”

“You and El.” Will lifts his shoulders. “You're like freaking Romeo and Juliet. Know each other for barely a week, and suddenly you're head over heels in love.”

“That's not true.”

“Yeah, it is. You found her after I went to the Upside Down, and she disappeared before I came back. I wasn't there a week, but once I got back, all you could talk about was her. And she's still all you talk about, especially after she came back.” Will gets to his feet. “You know, you used to actually care about the well-being of the Party.”

Mike throws his arms up. “If you haven't noticed, I've been following _you_ around for the past two days to get rid of the Mind Flayer and those damn Russians, not El. You're the one always bringing her up. If anyone's changed, it's you. All you've been doing is acting like you're the one who knows better. Like you're in charge of everything we do just because you heard the Russian transmission with Dustin that night and you can sense the Mind Flayer. Like Will the freaking Wise.”

“Oh, so now that someone else is helping to lead the Party, you're upset? Because you always have to be the one in charge, don't you, Michael?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Dungeon Master. President of AV Club. Venkman. Not bothering to play D&D anymore even though I had a whole campaign set up since the beginning of summer. Making us wait for you every time we went to the movies. Ignoring me so you could look for a gift for El instead of just apologizing to her. Saying we should split up because you didn't want to investigate the Russians.”

“Look where investigating the Russians got you. Steve and Robin almost got stuck down there.”

“Screw you, Mike.”

“No,” Mike says, jabbing his finger at Will, “screw you. You keep shitting on El and me for no reason. She's not a bad person, but you act like she's ruined your life.”

Will feels like his brain is about to explode. “I never said she was a bad person! I'm not shitting on her, and I'm not angry at her.”

“You keep saying you're not angry, but you don't act like it when you blow up every time I mention her.”

“Alright.” Scowling, Will takes a step towards Mike. “You're right. I am angry! But not at her, at you. And don't you dare ask why because I know very well that you know why.”

“I've been trying to make up for before, but you keep going crazy and getting pissed at me for doing literally anything. I wouldn't give a shit if you were still mad about our fight at the mall, but obviously that's not it.”

“No, Mike, that's not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“How can you ask that? You act like nothing we do even happens. That's what makes me mad.”

Crossing his arms, Mike glares at the wall behind Will. “El's my girlfriend.”

“Bullshit!” Will shoves Mike backwards. “She dumped your ass, and all you do is lie to her.”

“What's it matter to you?”

“Friends don't lie, Mike. Obey the rule of law or be banished from the party.”

“Shut up,” Mike scoffs. “I lied to her because of Hopper, you know that. I had to do it. You can't banish me for that.”

“What difference would it make?”

“Huh?”

“Banishing you from the party. Would it even matter that much to you? I mean, without the rest of us to hold you back, you and El can get back together and live happily ever after, right?”

“Screw you. You know the party's everything to me. I would never leave you guys.”

“So, El's not the most important thing in the world to you? The party is?”

Mike furrows his eyebrows. “What?”

“You don't think El should hang out with her own species more?”

“Wait... how did-”

“You're not the only person who can talk to El.”

“What the hell, Will? You've been talking about me behind my back?”

He takes a step closer to Mike. “Is she really the most important thing in the world to you?”

Mike stays silent.

“Maybe you will live happily ever after.”

“C'mon, Will. This isn't some stupid fairy tale.”

“Yeah, because people like me don't exist in fairy tales.”

Mike frowns. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means.”

He pushes past Will hurriedly. “You know, you didn't used to be so angry. You used to be sweet.”

“So did you, but we can't be the same person forever.”

This stops Mike. He turns back to Will timidly. “It's because of me, isn't it?”

Will furrows his eyebrows.

“You're different because of me. Not because of the Upside Down or the Mind Flayer, but because of me.”

“You're so stupid sometimes, Mike.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It's neither.” Will sighs. “I am different because of the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer. Of course I am. I didn't want to be. I tried to make everything like it was before it happened, but it didn't work.” He meets Mike's gaze. “And of course I'm different because of you.”

“I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn't mean to make you angry. I really tried not to. Of all the things in my life that I wish could have stayed the same, it's being with you.”

Will groans, running his hands over his face. “I know you didn't mean to make me angry, Mike. It's not really your fault.”

“Then what was it?”

“Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

Mike's cheeks turn pink as he shrugs, eyes dropping to his shoes.

“I was jealous. I told you that already. I was jealous, and you were different, and it pissed me off that things couldn't be like they were before. When we played D&D in your basement all weekend until your mom yelled at us to go home. When we hung out at the arcade trying to beat Lucas's score on Dragon's Lair. I was jealous that after everything that happened, you would just leave me to make out with this girl you barely knew a year ago and always come late to the movies for the same reason.”

An uncomfortable look is settled on Mike's face. Stomach churning, Will moves to the door, but Mike grabs him by the wrist. “You shouldn't be jealous of anyone. You're my best friend, Will. You always will be.”

Will can't help the spiteful laugh that escapes his throat. He slips his wrist out of Mike's grip. “See, that's the whole problem. I don't know if I can be your best friend.”

“What?” Panic befalls Mike. “Why?”

“Because-” He hugs himself, shaking his head. “Never mind. It doesn't matter.” He reaches for the door, but Mike grabs his wrist again, spinning him around to face him.

“It does matter, Will.”

The ground is the only place Will can look without feeling like he's betrayed the person who matters the most to him in the world.

“Will, look at me.”

He doesn't.

“What is it? What's going on?” Mike tries to put his hand on Will's cheek, but Will ducks away. “Why would you say we can't be best friends anymore?”

Will moves to the door again, but Mike shouts his name loud enough that it echoes into the woods and makes him freeze. “Will,” Mike goes on in a hushed voice, “tell me why.”

He can't hold it in anymore. It's like an explosion in his chest. “Because I'm in love with you!” he practically shouts. Both of them are taken aback by the confession, but seeing Mike still standing before him, Will goes on. “I think I have been for awhile now.”

“Is this because of what happened at your house? Before you destroyed Castle Byers?”

“I knew before that.”

Mike swallows. “You – you can't.”

“And why not?”

“Be-because...”

“Because what?”

“Because it's not... right.”

There it was. What Will had always known in his heart but hoped wasn't true, and Mike just voiced it. With a sigh and a curt nod, he flung open the door and stormed back inside the cabin.

Will halts when he spots Erica sitting up and staring right at him, but all she does is roll her eyes before flopping her head back down on her pillow. Making sure to be quiet, he tiptoes over to the armchair to get more sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support you guys have been giving me:) I really appreciate it, and I'm glad you guys are still reading the story! It means a lot to me, so thanks again!:)


	35. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will has a talk with Jonathan.

“We'll need another car since there's so many of us,” Jonathan says, leaning over the kitchen counter beside Will and across from Nancy. Everyone else but Robin and Dustin, who are discussing strategies for defeating the Mind Flayer at the dining table, are asleep. On the floor in front of the television set, Mike is lying with half his face smooshed into a pillow. Will's stomach churns as he looks at him, the argument from the previous night fresh in his mind.

“I guess it shouldn't take too long.” Nancy says, grabbing the keys to the station wagon and heading for the door with Jonathan. “We'll be back soon.”

“Wait,” Will calls before she and Jonathan can leave. “Can I come, too?”

Shrugging, Nancy glances to Jonathan who smiles. “Yeah, of course.” Will hurries out the door with them and gets into the station wagon.

While they drive to the Byers' house, Nancy starts discussing their overall plan. “After everyone's woken up, we should start looking for the Flayed or at least figuring out if there are more than the ones we already know.”

“And do what with them?” Jonathan asks.

“Burn it out of them if they haven't already turned into those monsters.” Nancy sighs. “I just think we need to know who the Mind Flayer's infected, and then maybe we can figure out how or where they got infected in the first place.”

Once they reach the house, Will and Jonathan transfer to Jonathan's car while Nancy drives back in the station wagon. On the drive back, Will leans his head against the window, staring outside as he wills himself not to think of the argument from last night. It's impossible. Mike's words keep flooding back into his mind. _You keep going crazy and getting pissed at me for doing literally anything... You didn't used to be so angry... Because it's not... right._ The look on Mike's face whenever he yelled at him felt like pure hatred. It made Will's stomach twist into a knot.

“Are you okay?” Jonathan asks, glancing at Will out of the corner of his eye.

“Mhmm.” Will continues to stare out the window, Mike's voice in the back of his head.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Jonathan says with sarcasm, a playful smirk appearing on his face. “Did you say something? I didn't hear you. Was that a yes or a no?”

He knows his brother is only joking around, but all Will's emotions seem to boil up to the surface at once, and he bursts into sobs. The car slows before stopping by the side of the road. Jonathan turns to look at Will. “Will? Will, what's wrong? Is it something to do with the Mind Flayer?”

Unable to get a word out, Will shakes his head and buries his face in the crook of his elbow. Jonathan squeezes his shoulder. “What's this about then?” he asks in a quiet voice, leaning down to be level with Will's face.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and covering his eyes with the palms of his hands, Will sucks in a ragged breath. “I don't know.” His voice comes out in an embarrassing whine which only makes his face grow a deeper red.

Jonathan pulls him into a hug. They don't move away from each other for a good minute, Will crying softly into his brother's shoulder. When he pulls away, he sniffles and rubs his eyes with his sleeves. “It's – it's Mike.”

“What happened?” Jonathan asks.

“I-” He clears his throat, trying to put the words together. His stomach is sore and his chest aches and his voice comes out softer than a whisper. “I really like him. A lot more than I should.”

Jonathan hugs him again. “It's okay.” He pauses and meets Will's eyes. “Is that... that's what you're upset over? Or is there something more?”

Will's face drops to his hands. “We had a fight. And...” He racks his brain for a way to phrase this in order not to explain everything. “... I think he knows, and he's not happy with me.”

“Why do you think he knows?”

“Well... he's just-” He thinks back to what was said during the fight at the mall, carefully choosing his words. “I was angry he was so obsessed with El, and... and he said it wasn't his fault I don't like girls.” He chews his lip, hoping he won't have to explain anymore.

Jonathan's eyes narrow. “Mike said that?”

Will looks back out the window, shrugging, but Jonathan puts a hand on his shoulder. “That was a shitty thing for him to say,” Jonathan says. “Frankly, if he's going to say things like that, I wouldn't bother with him until he apologizes. You deserve better.”

“I don't think...” Will runs his knuckles over his mouth. “He's my best friend. I don't think he meant-”

“Whatever he meant doesn't matter. What matter is how it affected you. If he hurts you this much, he isn't worth it even if he is your best friend. He needs to understand what he said hurt you, and he has to apologize.”

“But maybe he didn't mean it like I thought he did.”

Jonathan folds his hands in his lap. “Will, if he's your best friend, you can't just let him go around saying things that hurt your feelings even if you're not sure that he meant to. Did you tell him how you felt about what he said?” Will shrugs which makes Jonathan sigh. “If you did, then don't waste your time on him until he explains himself. Will, look at me.”

Will looks at his brother.

“You deserve so much more than guys who treat you like an afterthought. You hear me? You're the kindest, most caring and thoughtful person I know, and you deserve someone just as kind and caring and thoughtful. You don't need someone who treats your feelings like something to be ashamed of. I know Mike's been your best friend since you were little, but honestly, that means he should know better.” He takes Will's hands and squeezes them tightly. “Never be ashamed of your feelings, Will, and never be ashamed of who you like. It makes you who you are, and who you are is the best person I've ever known.”

Smiling as tears well in his eyes, Will wraps his arms around his brother. “Thank you, Jonathan. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Will.” He sits back and smiles. “Do you want to wait here and take a minute?”

Will shakes his head. “No, it's fine. We can go. Nancy's probably wondering where we've gone.”


	36. Family Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As El searches for the Flayed, the others try to understand the complexities of the situation while Mike and Max have an argument.

Everyone is waiting around the cabin while El searches for the Flayed in her bedroom. Will sits on a chair by the kitchen counter across from Jonathan, Steve and Robin sitting at the dining table beside him while Nancy is glued to the phone, trying to get more information on the Flayed. Dustin, Lucas, and Erica are gathered on the couch, and Max is in the armchair next to them, frowning as Mike paces back-and-forth in front of El's bedroom door.

“It can't be good for her to be in there for this long,” Mike says. A tinge of jealousy hits Will which annoys him.

In the armchair, Max sighs. “Mike, you need to relax.”

“What if she gets brain damage or something?”

“Oh, shit-” Lucas looks from Max to Mike. “Is that, like, a real thing?”

“No, it's not,” Max says. “He made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.”

Halting, Mike turns to furrow his eyebrows at Max. “Oh, and you do?”

“No, I...” As Max goes on to say something else, Will diverts his attention to Nancy on the phone, sick of listening to his friends bickering.

“Yes, from _The Hawkins Post_ ,” Nancy says. “I – I called a couple days ago about the … yeah, yes, um... I was just... following up to see if anything else had gone missing, or if – Okay. Um, sorry to bother -” The line cuts off before she can finish. She hangs up the phone and goes to where Jonathan and Will are. Looking at the phone book on the counter, she sighs. “Who's next?”

“There is no next,” Jonathan says, scratching off an ad in the phone book. “Unless you want to start calling random people's homes.”

“It doesn't make sense.”

“What part of any of this makes sense?”

“There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior. They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started, and – and, what, they just stop, out of the blue?”

“Maybe they have all the chemicals they need,” Will says. “Maybe they've all turned into those... things.”

From the dining table, Steve turns to face them. “I don't get what you're looking for. Don't we already know what's going on? That monster you guys saw in the hospital, isn't that what's happening to everyone who gets infected? What else is there to know?”

“But what about the source?” Nancy asks. “I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the Flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?”

Steve opens his mouth to respond, but Max marches up to them with Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Erica trailing behind her. “Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?” she asks. “Who do you think should decide El's limits? Mike or Eleven?”

Mike's face scrunches up. “The way that you frame that is such bullshit.”

“It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem. And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass.”

“El dumped you?” Nancy asks her brother.

“Yeah,” Mike says, gesturing to Max, “because she is conspiring against me. She's corrupting her.”

“No, _enlightening_ her,” Max counters. Will and Lucas glance to each other as both Mike and Max's faces grow red with frustration. “The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions.”

“She's risking her life for no reason.”

Nancy furrows her eyebrows at Mike. “For no reason? Mike, the Flayed are out there doing God knows what.”

“Killing, flaying,” Lucas says.

“Transforming into monsters,” Will adds.

“And El's not stupid,” Nancy continues as Mike rolls his eyes. “She knows her abilities better than any of us.”

“Exactly, thank you,” Max says.

“And she is her own person.”

“Exactly.”

“With her own free will.”

“Exactly. El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her.”

Mike focuses on Max. “You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?”

Squinting, Lucas straightens up. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, she didn't tell you this?”

He shakes his head, eyes wide. “No.”

“Your girlfriend used El's powers to _spy on us._ ”

“No, no, no, I did not _make_ her,” Max says. “It was _her_ idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously?”

“Yeah,” Will adds, “who cares?”

Lucas turns to him. “I care.”

“Yeah.” Mike turns towards Max again. “I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy.”

“We were just joking around,” Max insists.

“Wouldn't it've been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?”

Max rolls her eyes. “You weren't.”

“But what if I was?”

“Then gross!”

“Seriously, Mike?” Nancy says.

“I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the Flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again.” Mike freezes as the words leave his mouth. The words stab into Will's chest like a dagger. Dead silent, Will realizes far too many eyes are on him rather than Mike. Max seems to be giving him a sympathetic look which he understands and can't help feeling grateful for. A lump forms in his throat when he realizes Erica, Dustin, and Lucas all staring at him as well. The only ones who aren't looking at him are Mike, Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Jonathan, and Jonathan's eyes are burning holes at Mike's head.

Floorboards creak as El exits her bedroom, and everyone looks to her. “What's going on?” she asks.

“Nothing,” Mike says. “Nothing.”

“Just a family discussion,” Lucas adds.

“Oh...” Glancing about, El takes a breath. “I found him.”

“Found who?” Nancy asks.

“Billy.”


	37. Perfect How You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin get food and medical supplies.

As El prepares to look for Billy again, Will stays seated by the counter, feeling like a ton of bricks hit him in the gut. Jonathan leans over to him. “You alright, Will?”

He nods mindlessly. Jonathan stares unconvinced until Dustin wanders over to them, kicking Will's foot. “How much time would you say we have until El finds the source?”

Will raises an eyebrow while Jonathan says, “Could take a while. Why?”

“We've got complaints of hunger, and Steve-” Dustin glances around the room. “-wherever he's gone, is in need of medical attention. Quite a few of us are, actually.” He gestures to Will's bruised throat.

“Are these complaints of hunger from you?” Will asks with a smirk.

Dustin nudges him on the shoulder. “We need sustenance, Byers. You do realize we were down in that Russian base for an entire day, right?”

“Right.”

“Are you asking if we should go get food and medical supplies?” Jonathan asks.

Dustin nods. “Precisely.”

Grabbing his car keys, Jonathan moves around the counter but before he can lead Will and Dustin out the door, Nancy stares him down. “Where are you going?”

“To get food and medical supplies.”

“We need you here. I'm not looking after the kids on my own.”

“Nancy,” Dustin cuts in, “we need food and medical supplies. It's dire to our health.”

“Get Steve and Robin to go. They haven't been much use here.” She gestures to the room where Steve and Robin are nowhere in sight.

Dustin looks to Jonathan. “Keys?”

With a sigh, Jonathan tosses them to him. “Be back soon. In and out, only get what you need.”

“Will do.” Dustin grabs Will by the sleeve, and they duck out of the cabin.

They glance around for any sign of Steve or Robin. “Where could they have gone?” Will asks.

“I don't know.” Dustin ventures to the side of the cabin, peering around the corner. “The cars are still here, so they didn't drive off. I don't know why they just ran off like this.”

“Maybe they're-”

Dustin holds up a finger when laughter breaks out in the distance. He and Will look to each other before breaking out into a sprint. They find Steve and Robin sitting atop a fallen tree. “Okay, what the hell?”

Steve and Robin look at them and burst into more cackles. Rolling his eyes, Dustin gestures for them to follow. “Come on, guys. We're going to get food and medical supplies while El looks for the source.”

“With what car?” Steve asks as he and Robin get up and weave through the trees after Will and Dustin.

“Jonathan's letting us borrow his,” Will says. Dustin tosses Steve the keys, and they get in the car, Steve and Robin up front, Will and Dustin in the back, and head to the grocery store. When they arrive, they split up, Steve and Robin heading for the first aid section while Will and Dustin look for food.

As Will grabs a couple boxes of cereal and sets them in the cart, Dustin leans on the handle, staring hard at Will. Sighing, Will stops walking and stares back at him. “What is it, Dustin?”

“Did something happen with you and Mike?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Erica mentioned something.”

Will's eyebrows draw together. “Erica?”

“Yeah, sort of out of the blue. Lucas and I were talking on the porch this morning after you went with Jonathan and Nancy to get the car when she came outside and asked us if our two friends were in love.”

Will freezes, not knowing how to react or how Dustin would react if he told him the truth. “What did you say?”

“She didn't explain exactly who she was talking about, so I'm pretty sure Lucas just thought she meant Mike and Eleven.”

Tapping his knuckles on the cereal box, Will narrows his eyes. “But you don't think that?”

“No, dummy, I don't.” He flashes him a grin. “Is it true then?”

Will shakes his head. “You heard Mike. He's in love with El.”

Dustin rolls his eyes. “And what about you?”

“Am I in love with El?” Will smirks, trying to will away his racing heartbeat.

“Come on, Byers.”

He sighs, putting his head in his hands. “Max figured it out as well. Am I that obvious?”

“If I'm being honest, no. If anything, I thought Mike was more obvious than you.”

“What?”

Dustin pats him on the shoulder. “Don't worry. You don't make it obvious. Does Mike know?”

“Of course he knows, and he's pissed about it.”

“Why's he pissed about that?”

“Why do you think, Dustin?” Will lets out a groan. “I ruined everything.”

“Ruined everything? Hey-” Dustin looks him in the eye. “No, you haven't. Hey, Will, look at me. You haven't ruined a thing. Just because you have feelings for him, doesn't mean you can't still be friends, if that's what you're worried about. Just look at me and Max. I used to like her, but now we're friends, and I'm with Suzie. Things work out in the end. But if he's going to be an asshole about it, that's on him, not you.”

Smiling faintly, Will clutches himself. “You don't think it's weird or gross?”

“No way, far from it.”

“I don't know what to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“I really like him... like _really_ like him, and I don't know how to get over it. I know I have to at some point, but I think I've liked him so long it's almost become my default.”

Tapping his fingers on the edge of the cart, Dustin's eyebrows knit together. When he doesn't answer, Will goes on, “How did you get over Max?”

“I didn't like her as much, so I wouldn't compare.”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Steve clears his throat from behind them, and they spin around to stare at him and Robin. How long have they been there? After glancing between Will and Robin, Steve gestures to Dustin. “Henderson, I need help finding bandages.”

Both Will and Dustin give him confused looks. “Did you not look in the first aid section?”

“I need your help, dude.”

Dustin narrows his eyes before shrugging and walking off with Steve and the shopping cart, leaving Will and Robin alone. She gives him a smile. “How are you, Byers?”

“Good.” They move down the aisle, Robin carrying a shopping basket filled with boxes of band-aids in her hand. Will gestures in the direction Steve and Dustin went. “What was that about?”

Robin scrunches her nose. “I think Steve wanted me to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“We sort of heard you and Dustin talking.”

“I don't...” He was about to dismiss it, but he was pretty sure he knew what she was getting at. “I don't...” Will inhales. “I don't know what to do.”

“What do you mean?”

Will responds with a shrug.

“Do you mean you're looking for a way to get over this person you're in love with?”

“I don't know.” He sighs. “I just wish I was different.”

“You're perfect how you are.” They stop walking as Robin turns to him. “Look, it may seem like this massive thing in your life right now, but you'll be okay. Everything will work out in the end even if that means moving on.”

“I don't know if I can move on.”

“You might have to.” She ruffles up his hair. “It'll be hard, but you'll be fine.”

“How do you know?”

“I went through the same thing.”

“But _how_ did you move on?”

“I found other people. Friends. People I can count on to be there for me and who actually care about me. But hey.” She nudges him. “You already have friends you can count on and who care about you. Even when you think you don't, they'll be there for you. So many people love you, Byers, even if you feel alone or different or wrong, you have to know that there are people who love you exactly how you are, and you shouldn't change just to fit some mold of what's considered normal.”

Will smiles. “You sound like my brother.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

“Will! Robin!” Dustin and Steve's shouts echo from the other side of the store. Glancing to each other, Will and Robin break out into a run. They find Dustin and Steve by the front of the store, Dustin holding his walkie-talkie up to his ear.

“What's going on?” Robin asks.

Dustin puts a hand up as he listens to the walkie-talkie. Mike's voice breaks through the static. “He knows we're here! The Mind Flayer is coming! You guys-” His voice is overtaken by static.

“What?” Will asks in a panic.

Dustin shakes the walkie-talkie. Only fragments of Mike's voice can be heard. “The Mi – is here – get to the – we need bac – ing!” The low battery light on the walkie-talkie blinks. “Get to – now! Code – I re – red!” It fades to static, beeping.

“Mike!” Dustin cries, scrambling through his backpack for the pack of batteries he and Will had bought at the mall. He got it out, tore it open, and shoved the AA batteries in the walkie-talkie. “Mike, Mike, do you copy? It's Dustin. Are you there?”

No one answers.

“Shit,” Steve mutters.

“Come on,” Dustin says, running towards the door. “We have to get back to them!”

“Hey!” a cashier shouts as the four of them start for the door with the food and medical supplies. “You have to pay for those!”

Steve and Robin rush over to the check-out line with the supplies while Will and Dustin wait by the door, ears glued to the walkie-talkie. Once Steve and Robin return with the supplies, they rush to the car, throw their bags in the trunk, and gas it to the cabin. No further word comes from the walkie-talkie.


	38. Electricity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin rush back to the cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who has been reading this fic and anyone who leaves comments! I really appreciate it! I hope everyone stays safe and healthy during these times <3

The car speeds into the woods, Dustin shouting into the walkie-talkie while Will peers out the window. Trees shoot past them. The closer they draw to the cabin, the colder Will feels.

“Damn it, they won't answer.” Dustin throws his walkie-talkie onto the seat and leans forward to Steve and Robin. “Can't you go any faster?”

Eyes glued to the road, Steve flicks his hand at Dustin's face. “I'm flooring it, Henderson!”

As they pull in front of the cabin, Will's hand shoots up to the back of his neck. Tingling. Steve hits the brakes, nearly crashing into the station wagon, and all four of them slam forward.

“Jesus, Steve, careful, you nearly-” Dustin's voice cuts off as everyone stares through the windshield at the enormous monster towering above the cabin.

“What the-” Robin murmurs, and the monster rears its slimy head to look directly at the car.

“Oh, shit.” Slamming his foot on the gas, Steve reverses the car as the monster lets out a shriek. It tears away from the cabin, the earth rumbling beneath its legs, and begins storming after them. “What the hell is that?” Steve shouts, speeding the car backwards through the woods.

Will's heart pounds in his throat. “It's like the thing from the hospital, only ten times bigger.”

“Oh shit, oh shit.” Dustin presses his head to the window as he peers through the glass. “What do we do? What do we do?”

“We have to help them! We have to get everyone out of there!” Will shakes Dustin on the shoulder. “Radio them! Radio them!”

Grabbing his walkie-talkie, Dustin nearly drops it as he turns it on. “Hello? Does anyone copy? This is Dustin, Will, Steve, and Robin. If anyone copies, please answer. This is a code red! Are you guys alright?”

In front of them, the monster turns around while they continue to speed away onto the road. Screeching, the car spins in a half-circle and surges forward down the road and away from the woods. Will leans forward, grasping the back of Steve's seat with his hands. “Where are you going? We have to go back. Our friends are in danger!”

“Did you not see that thing?” Steve scoffs. “What are we supposed to do against that? I don't want to go in defenseless and die.”

“I don't care,” Will says, a whine in his voice. “Steve, you have to go back. Please. We need to help them.”

“He's right, Steve,” Dustin says. “We don't leave anyone behind.”

Steve glances at them through the rearview mirror, sighs, and spins the car around, flooring it back to the cabin. When they arrive, there's no sign of the monster or the station wagon. Robin cranes her neck to peer out the window. “Did they pass by us on the road?”

Dustin shakes his head. “We never went past their station wagon. They probably went in the other direction.”

Opening the car door, Steve gets out and surveys the area. “Do you think that monster followed them?”

Dustin and Robin murmur, “Probably.”

Will holds his hand up to his neck. A feeling, like an echo of dread, stays under his skin.

“Let's see if they left anything inside,” Steve says and jogs up to the cabin door. As Dustin and Robin hop out of the car and head inside the cabin with Steve, Will pays close attention to the feeling in his neck before following them inside.

The cabin is wrecked. Glass and wood is scattered on the floor, furniture thrown about. Steve reaches down and picks up the Russian taser from the ground, pressing the button to turn it on. It doesn't light up. “Broken,” he mutters.

Dustin turns on his walkie-talkie. “Mike? Do you copy? It's Dustin. We're at the cabin now. Where are you guys?”

Nothing but static answers. Shifting through a pile of broken wood, Robin pulls out a bloody axe and turns it over in her hands. Will's stomach churns. Holes gaped in the walls of the cabin and above them, they could see the night sky through a massive hole in the ceiling.

“Jesus,” Steve mutters, kicking around debris. “I hope everyone's alright.”

Feeling a slight prickle in his neck, Will hovers near the door. “Where do you think they went?”

“Anywhere to escape that thing,” Dustin says.

Robin chuckles. “How the hell do you escape that thing? It's bigger than a house.”

“As long as it can't find them, they can escape it.”

“But what if it does find them?” Steve asks, and Will begins to feel the dread under his skin claw its way to the surface.

Dustin shrugs. “We'll find them first, and then we'll deal with it.”

“How the hell do we deal with it?”

“I'm sure we'll figure something out.”

A chill runs down Will's spine. His neck tingles. “Guys...” His voice trembles, and everyone looks at him. “He's back.”

Everyone screams as a meaty claw shoots through the wall behind the television, flinging around the room and grasping about at them. Robin ducks beneath the dining table as the claw swings over her head. The claw shoots towards Steve. He throws himself to the floor, the taser toppling out of his hands, and slides behind the kitchen counter. Will and Dustin dash to the wall as another claw tears through the ceiling, smashing into a shelf and sending books and board games crashing to the floor. “Steve!” Dustin shouts as the claw moves towards the kitchen area.

Without thinking, Will leaps forward, grabs the taser off the floor, and smashes it into the claw. Electricity bursts through it. The monster shrieks, the claw burning off and dropping to the floor. Will takes a swing as the other claw flings towards him, searing it with the taser. The flesh of the monster drops, burnt, to the floor, the smell of it hanging in the air.

“Will, your hands,” Dustin says from across the room. Will looks down and nearly jumps out of his skin. His hands and forearms are buzzing with sparks of electricity. The taser drops to the ground, and the blue and white flashes of light disappear.

Robin dashes out from underneath the table, helps Steve to his feet, and runs to the door. “Come on!” she shouts, and Will and Dustin rush after them. They barrel inside the car, Steve fumbling with the keys as the monster lets out a screech from somewhere in the woods, and tear away. They don't slow down until they've reached the road.

All the while, Dustin shouts into his walkie-talkie. “Does anybody copy? This is a code red! Code red! We need to know where you are.”

As they wait for an answer, Steve glances to Will from the rearview mirror. “How'd you get the taser to work, Byers?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it was broken when I picked it up. How'd you get it to work?”

“I don't know.”

“We copy,” Lucas says over the walkie-talkie, drawing everyone's attention away from Will. “We've got a code red as well. El's been injured. We're taking her to the convenience store, Bradley's Big Buy. Meet us there. Over.”

“Copy that. Over.”


	39. Satan's Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin arrive at the convenience store, and Will finds a bowl with Lucas.

Will, Dustin, Steve, and Robin rush into the convenience store like rabid animals, panting and gaping about for their friends. They tear down a couple aisles until they run into Erica who's gathering bottles of water in her arms. She raises an eyebrow when they reach her. “The hell were you guys?”

Steve makes a face. “We ran into that _thing.”_

“What's going on?” Dustin asks Erica. “Where's everyone else?”

Before Erica can answer, Lucas skirts down the aisle and rushes up to them. “You're here.”

“Yeah, just got here,” Dustin says. “We ran into the Mind Flayer back at the cabin. What happened with you guys?”

“After you four left, El found the source, but when she went to see Billy, Billy saw where we were at the cabin, and he sent the Mind Flayer there.”

“She found the source?” Will asks. “Where is it?”

“Don't remember exactly. Steelwork factory, I think.”

“Are you guys alright?”

“Not really. El's got a massive cut in her leg. That's why we're here.” He gestures to Steve, Robin, and Dustin. “You guys, go ask Max what she needs to treat the wound. Bring that water to El, Erica. Will, come find a bowl with me.”

As Steve, Robin, and Dustin head down one of the aisles and Erica continues to gather water bottles, Will follows Lucas through the store. “Why are we looking for a bowl?” Will asks.

“No clue. Max said she needs it.” Peering at the shelves, Lucas hums to himself while Will thinks back to what happened at the cabin. The taser. The sparks of electricity. It didn't feel like what happened at the hospital. No, that was different. Back there, he was enraged. Out of control as if something deep inside him clawed its way to the surface. At the cabin, it was like he could feel the energy, the electricity, flow through him. Like it was a part of him.

“Are you alright?” Lucas's voice brings Will out of his thoughts. “You're looking rough, and I don't mean that as an insult. How bad was it at the cabin? We thought El had stopped it for a while at least.”

“Oh, it wasn't _bad_ bad,” Will says. “Nothing like the hospital.”

“Did you fall or something? You've got blood under your nose.”

“What?” Reaching up, Will rubs under his nose and flakes of red fall into his hand. His stomach tightens as he looks at the dried blood. Why hadn't Dustin, Steve, or Robin mentioned it earlier? How long had his nose been bleeding?

“You good?”

Will looks up to meet Lucas's eyes before nodding and letting out a faint, “Yeah, fine.”

“Okay. There's something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Will studies his friend's face. “What is it?”

“Earlier, Erica said something about you and Mike. She heard you guys talking last night or whatever.”

Didn't Dustin say Lucas thought it was about Mike and El? Will frowns. The list of people who know about him and Mike is getting longer every minute.

“I told her not to tell anyone else,” Lucas goes on. “Dustin was with us too, but as far as I know, he thought she was talking about Mike and El.”

A laugh escapes Will's throat before he can hold it back. When Lucas raises an eyebrow, he shakes his head. “Sorry, it's just... are you weirded out?”

“Of course not. If I'm being honest, I'm not all that surprised.”

“How obvious was I?”

“Oh, it's not that you were obvious at all. It's just... you and Mike have always been closer than the rest of us.”

“Why is it that everyone says I wasn't being obvious, but everyone figured it out?”

Lucas furrows his eyebrows. “Who else knows?”

“Besides you and Erica, Max figured it out, Dustin, and now Steve and Robin. I told Jonathan myself.” He sighs. “It's fair to say at this point, everyone knows.”

“As far as I'm aware, no one knows that everyone knows, other than you and me,” Lucas says and then tilts his head. “Did something happen the night you destroyed Castle Byers? With you and Mike?”

“We...” Will pauses, trying to decide if he should tell the truth or not. It didn't feel right, telling people about him and Mike without Mike's permission. “We fought because I was jealous of El, and I was jealous of El because I'm in love with Mike.”

Lucas squeezes his shoulder. “I'm sorry about what he said in the cabin about Eleven.”

“Just have to deal with it.”

“I'm sorry I was the one who brought it up. I should've let you tell me when you were ready. I'm really sorry.”

“Lucas, it's fine.” He pats him on the shoulder. “I'm glad you brought it up. Otherwise, I'm not sure I ever would have.”

“Come here, man.” With a smile, Lucas pulls him into a tight hug. “You're one of my best friends, Will, and you always will be. I hope you know that.”

Will smiles back. “I know.” When they pull apart, he gestures about the store. “So, where exactly would we find a bowl?”

Glancing around, Lucas chuckles. “No idea. Cereal aisle probably.” They head down the cereal aisle, only to find no sign of a bowl. “Bowl... bowl! Bowl... bo – why wouldn't it be with the cereal?”

“I don't know.”

“What else do you use a bowl for?”

“I... don't know.”

As they turn out of the aisle, Lucas sighs then stops short, his eyes widening. “Oh shit.”

There in the middle of the aisle is a stand stocked full of fireworks. The display is taller than both boys. Will and Lucas meet eyes before rushing over to it. Taking one of the boxes in his hands, a grin spreads over Lucas's face. “Oh, Satan's Baby... you ever shot one of these suckers?”

“No. Is it sweet?”

“That's an understatement.”

“That doesn't look like a bowl,” Max says, marching up to them. Her eyes linger on Will's bloody nose before staring down Lucas.

“Nah, it's way better.” Lucas lifts the box to show her. “There's a reason this warning label says eighteen or older. This sucker is filled with a hundred and fifty grains of black powder, a.k.a., gun powder.” He tosses the box to Max. “Strap two of these together and it's bigger than an M-80. Five of them? We've got ourselves a stick of dynamite.”

“You want to kill that thing with fireworks?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Uh, yeah, Eleven.” She throws the box back at Lucas.

Lucas's eyebrows draw together. “Against that thing? She's gonna need some backup.”

Rolling her eyes, Max turns around and marches away, muttering, “Oh my god.”

“Hold this.” Lucas hands Will the box of Satan's Baby before piling more boxes into his arms. He adjusts his hold on all the boxes as Dustin and Erica walk over to them.

“What are you doing?” Erica asks.

“Backup plan,” Lucas says, handing Dustin a pile of boxes. “Why don't you get us a shopping cart?”

“Get your own shopping cart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to anyone reading this fic and anyone who leaves feedback! It truly means a lot to me to see that you like this fic:) Stay safe and healthy! <3


	40. Blank Makes You Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Erica gather fireworks and overhear a conversation between Mike and El. Will has a talk with Max.

“Just wait for it,” Lucas says, craning his neck to see past the boxes of fireworks in his hands as he, Will, Dustin, and Erica walk through the store to the shopping carts. “We'll be stuck somewhere without El to help us and the Mind Flayer right in front of us, and the only thing to save us are these babies right here.”

Erica narrows her eyes at her brother while Dustin says, “Just make sure you don't kill us with these things in the process.”

“Yeah,” Erica says, “if we all die, it's your fault.”

The four of them weave through another aisle, hands full of fireworks, but they slow their steps when they hear Mike's voice close-by. “I just, like, I've never felt like this, you know, with anyone before... and... You know, they do say it makes you crazy.”

“What makes you crazy?” El responds. Will wants to stop walking, get the hell out of there, but everyone keeps moving, closer to Mike and El's voices. From what he can tell, Will figures they're somewhere in the next aisle over.

“You never – You never heard that term... You know, like the phrase, like... 'blank makes you crazy,' like the word...”

His heart crumbles. _Crazy? Crazy is_ our _word._ Or so he thought. Will's face is heating up, from anger or embarrassment or betrayal, he doesn't know. Possibly all of the above.

“'Girlfriends'?” El asks.

“No, no, no, no, not – not girlfriends,” Mike stutters.

“'Boyfriends'.”

“No! No, no, not boyfriends either. It's like – It's like a feeling or...”

“A feeling...”

“Yeah, like something... Like, old people say it to each other sometimes.”

“Old people?”

Lucas, Dustin, and Erica all furrow their eyebrows while Will just wants to die inside.

“Yeah,” Mike says. “What I wanna say is... that I just...” A knot is forming in Will's stomach, growing tighter with each word Mike utters. “I know that I -”

The four of them halt in front of the aisle Mike and El are sitting in, staring at them. A box of fireworks falls out of Will's hands and lands on the floor. His cheeks grow pink when Mike and El glance up at them.

“That's awkward,” Erica murmurs.

“Erica,” Lucas hisses before giving Will a sympathetic look.

There's a beat of silence before Dustin steps forward, standing in front of Will like a shield, and clears his throat. “What's the plan?”

“Plan?” Mike's eyebrows knit together. “Plan for what?”

“For the Mind Flayer. We need to have a plan to get rid of it.”

“I thought we were going to the source,” El says.

Lucas raises an eyebrow. “What good is going to the source now that we know the Flayed have already turned into that monster?”

The six of them glance to each other. When no one responds, Mike gestures to the boxes in their hands. “What's with the fireworks?”

“Backup plan.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Max asks as she appears at the other end of the aisle along with Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin. They walk over to them, and Mike helps El to her feet.

“We need a plan,” Will says, trying to keep the words Mike said to El from re-entering his mind, “for the Mind Flayer.”

“Yeah, and we don't think going to the source now will do us any good,” Lucas says.

Nancy's eyebrows knit together. “Why not?

“Because that monster could be out there killing everyone right now. We need to kill that thing, not waste our time finding out where it came from.”

“Okay.” Nancy nods. “We should close the gate. That's the only way we can get rid of it, right?”

“Doesn't that mean we kill all the Flayed?”

“Billy's one of them,” Max murmurs.

“What other choice do we have?” Jonathan asks. “We can't let that thing kill anyone else.”

With a pained face, Max leans back against the shelves. A twinge of guilt hits Will. “Maybe we should have El look for Billy again,” he suggests. “See where he is.”

Mike shakes his head and gestures to El. “No, do you see her? She's way too drained. We've used her powers enough. And besides, Billy's probably gone already.”

“What if we can still save him?” Max asks.

“How?”

She opens her mouth but shuts it quickly.

Lucas motions to Mike. “So what do you suggest?”

“Like Nancy said, we should close the gate.”

With a scowl, Max storms out of the aisle. El, frowning, watches her leave while Will sends a glare in Mike's direction. “You could've been nicer about it.” Will shoves the boxes of fireworks at Mike and hurries after Max.

“Nice going, Mike,” Lucas says.

“What'd I do?”

Will finds Max in the frozen section of the store, sitting in front of a freezer. He takes a seat beside her. “I'm sorry.”

She stares forward, not meeting his eyes. “I guess I just thought he'd be alright in the end. That he would get better, you know?” Her breath hitches. “I know it's stupid, after all the shit he's done, but he's still my brother, and...”

Will pulls her into a hug as tears fall down her cheeks.

“He's the only one who understands what... what our family is like,” she continues. “I know I should hate him, and I do a lot of the time, but other times, he's the only one who's there. Who knows what it's like.”

“Knows what what's like?”

She pulls away and rests the back of her head on the freezer door. “For the only feeling at home to be anger or fear.”

Will pauses, trying to think of something to say, but Max beats him to it. “I'm not just afraid for Billy. I'm afraid of what might happen if Billy really is gone. I don't know if it will be worse than it is now.”

“It's your step-dad, isn't it?” Will asks.

Max sighs. “If Billy is dead, I don't know what his dad will do.”

“My – my dad wasn't a nice guy either.” He wrings his hands together, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

Looking at him, Max half-smiles. “Maybe we're long-lost siblings.” They share a hesitant laugh. “Or maybe there are just shitty parents everywhere.”

The two of them sit there in front of the freezers for another minute, neither of them saying a word until Will turns to face Max. His hands are clasped together, his elbows on his knees. “So are you alright with us going to close the gate?”

“Alright with it? I don't know.” A sigh escapes her mouth. “But I guess we have no other choice.”

“Yeah, we just have to shut it, and the monster dies.”

She smirks. “But if not, we always have Lucas's fireworks.”

“Come on, those fireworks could work.”

“Know what else could work? El.” She nudges him in the shoulder. “Not to forget, you too.”

He rolls his eyes. “Max, I told you I don't know if I can even do anything.”

“So what's that about?” She gestures to his nose.

“It's still there?” He rubs underneath his nostrils with the back of his hand, speckles of red falling to the floor.

“Barely.” Max purses her lips. “You're starting to remind me of El.”

“I'm not.”

“Oh, I know you're not. You're not a badass super-powered heroine like her.” She gives him a smile. “But you're _something_.”

“I'm not anything, and I can't do anything.”

“I saw you do something at the hospital.”

“I don't know what that was, and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to do it again. You'll have to just forget about it.”

“There's more to you than you let on, Will. You're special, whether you admit it or not. And by the way, you could always talk to El about it. See if she knows anything.”

Shaking his head, Will gets to his feet. “Let's just stick to the plan. Get to the mall and close the gate.”

“Suit yourself.”

The two of them emerge from the frozen section and go to the front of the store where everyone else is gathered. “Hey, there you guys are.” Lucas glides up to them on a shopping cart filled with fireworks. “Oh, and I'm really sorry, Max. About Billy.”

She shrugs. “Not much we can do, I guess. It's just what it is.” Cracking a smile, she gestures to the shopping cart. “I see you're still going through with your backup plan?”

As they roll the shopping cart out the door, Lucas says, “Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again because you keep doubting me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again to everyone who reads and comments, I love you all!!! <3 Stay safe and healthy!!:)


	41. The Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes to the mall to close the gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has supported this fic and left comments! I love you all, and it means so much to me! I hope everyone stays safe and healthy during these times; I'm sending my love to you!

The car slows when they pull into the parking lot of the mall. Jonathan, in the driver's seat, peers through the windshield to see where the station wagon is going. Will sits beside him, his head against the window, and stares out at the station wagon. Her face is visible through the back of the car, sitting beside Mike. El. She's all he can think about right now, save for what Mike said in the store, but he's trying to forget about _that._ Is Max right? Will El understand what's going on with him? The powers? Should he even explain it? Maybe everything that happened at the hospital, at the cabin, maybe all of that wasn't him. Maybe it only seemed like it, and he was going crazy. Maybe it was all in his head. It's not like he's anything like Eleven. He's nothing special like her. No, he's just Will Byers. Zombie boy. Freak.

“What's our plan exactly?” Dustin asks from the back seat, squashed between Robin and Steve.

“We'll have to talk with the others,” Jonathan says. The station wagon turns a corner, dodging around a bus driving past. “I'm surprised the mall is still open. I figured the Russians would close it after you guys got into their base.”

“They have to be inconspicuous,” Robin says. “If they close down the mall, people are going to notice.”

“You call _that_ inconspicuous?” Dustin gestures out the window to where dozens of Russian guards are standing around the loading dock. Will watches them march back and forth in front of the secret elevator and talking into walkie-talkies. As Jonathan slows the car, the station wagon continuing down to the main entrance of the mall, the Russian guards turn their heads to stare directly at them. Will's heart shoots into his throat.

“Oh, shit!” Dustin shouts as bullets fire away at their car. Will ducks down, covering his head. Metal clangs, the back window shatters, and Jonathan slams his foot on the gas, booking it to the other end of the parking lot.

Wheels screeching, they tear around the main entrance of the mall and out of the line of fire before slowing down in the middle of the parking lot. Glancing around at everyone, Jonathan squeezes Will's shoulder. “Everyone alright?”

“Yeah, just great,” Steve mutters, rubbing his forehead.

“Is that smoke?” Robin asks, nodding to the hood of the car.

“Dammit,” Jonathan mutters. The engine sputters to a stop.

Robin peers out the back window. “It doesn't look like the Russians followed us.”

“Yeah,” Steve says, “but now they know we're here.”

“I don't get why they started shooting at us,” Robin says. Huffing, Jonathan gets out of the car and throws open the hood. “I mean, we didn't even do anything. We were just driving by.”

“They must've recognized the station wagon,” Dustin says. “Remember when Nancy picked us up? The Russians saw us drive away in it.”

Jonathan slams the hood back down. “Dammit!”

“Is it shot?” Will asks, getting out and going to stand beside his brother. Steve, Dustin, and Robin join them, examining the bullet holes littered about the car.

“Yeah, the whole damn thing is.”

“What do we do?” Robin asks.

“I don't know.”

Will and Dustin lean against the side of the car. Farther down the parking lot, the station wagon spins around, speeds in their direction, and parks beside them. Nancy gets out of the car along with everyone else and rushes to Jonathan's side. “What happened?”

“What happened?” Steve shakes his head. “The Russians shot at us, that's what.”

“They _what?_ ”

“Didn't you hear the gunshots?” Dustin asks.

Nancy frowns. “No, we were on the other side of the parking lot.”

“Yeah,” Max says, gesturing to Lucas and Erica, “and those two wouldn't shut up.”

“Hey, blame Lucas all you want,” Erica says, “but I wasn't the one complaining that I should go home.”

Lucas huffs. “You _should_ go home. Mom will kill us both if she knows you're here.”

“She'll kill you if she knows _you're_ here.”

“Oh my god,” Max says, rolling her eyes.

Jonathan knocks his hand on the hood of his smoking car. “So what's our plan?”

“We're thinking we need two groups,” Nancy says, “one going into the Russian base, and another out here to keep look-out.”

“How are we supposed to communicate?” Will asks. “Our Supercoms don't reach all the way down there unless we're on Cerebro.”

“Shit, you're right.”

“Three groups then,” Dustin says. “One in the Russian base, another on look-out, and another at Cerebro.”

“Right, so who's going where?” Erica asks.

“Hold on.” Nancy raises her hand. “Maybe we should make sure we can get into the Russian base first before anyone goes over to Cerebro.”

“We'll have to get rid of those guards,” Robin says.

Looking like she's about to pass out, El steps forward. “I'll do that.”

“Are you sure you should?” Mike gestures to her bandaged-up leg.

“I can do it.”

“Okay, so El is obviously going to the base to close the gate, and I'll go since I can use one of the guns from off the Russians to help her,” Nancy says, “but who else?”

“Erica and I can go with you since we know the layout,” Dustin says.

“No way,” Lucas says. “Erica's not going back in there.”

“Alright, so where do you want her to go?”

“What about Cerebro?” Will suggests as Erica rolls her eyes.

Lucas shrugs. “Fine by me.”

“We'll go down to the Russian base as well.” Steve motions to himself and Robin. “We know what to expect, and there's no way I'm letting you kids get killed down there.”

“I'll go with you guys, too,” Mike says.

“Why?” Will asks before he can stop himself.

Mike looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, but Jonathan, who hadn't heard Will, goes on to say, “Alright, so then who's going to Cerebro and who's staying look-out? Will, I'm going wherever you go, buddy.”

“If the Mind Flayer comes here,” Will says, keeping his eyes off Mike, “then I should stay look-out since I can sense him. I'll be able to warn you.”

“I'll stay here, too, since we've got the fireworks,” Lucas says.

Max frowns. “I'm staying also. If the Mind Flayer comes, Billy, if he's not already a part of it, will probably come with it. I need to stay in case that happens.”

Lucas furrows his eyebrows. “Okay, so who the hell is going to Cerebro? Just Erica? Because that's not happening.”

“Why don't you go?” Mike asks.

“One word, Mike. Fireworks.”

“Mike should go,” Will says.

“No, I'm going down to the gate with El.”

“Why? What good would that do?”

“What?”

“How are you going to help?”

Robin waves her hand to interrupt them. “If you are going to Cerebro, doesn't at least one of you need to drive there?”

Everyone blinks.

“I'll go then,” Jonathan says. “Mike, you can go to the gate if you want.”

Mike looks at Will, his nose scrunched up, and Will realizes he's glaring at Mike, so he glances away before focusing his eyes on the ground.

“Okay, so that's settled,” Nancy says. “Should we get to it then? We'll get rid of the guards, open the door to the elevator, and then you guys can leave for Cerebro. Here.” She hands Jonathan the keys to her station wagon. “You guys can drive somewhere where you can keep look-out of the loading dock, and once we're in, you and Erica can get to Cerebro.”

Nancy, El, Dustin, Mike, Steve, and Robin head to the loading dock while everyone else gets in the station wagon and finds a place to wait at the edge of the parking lot. Will, Lucas, and Max get out and lean against the side of the station wagon while Jonathan paces in front of them and Erica sits in the passenger's seat.

Slumping against the side of the station wagon, Max nudges Will. “I forgot to ask you earlier how you were doing. After what Mike said about El in the cabin. You two seemed a bit tense.”

Before Will can respond, Jonathan stops his pacing and looks at Max. “Wait, you know about Mike and Will?”

Glancing at Will, Max nods. “Yeah, I guess. You know, too?”

“Of course he knows,” Will says. “Everyone knows.”

“Everyone? Since when?”

“Since Erica started blabbing about it to everyone,” Lucas says, taking out his binoculars and looking towards the loading dock. “Are they just walking right up to them?”

“Looks like it,” Max says. “Anyways, wait... so who else knows exactly?”

“Well, you three,” Will says, “Erica, Steve, and Robin.”

“Steve knows?” Jonathan says.

“I'm sorry.” Erica pokes her head out of the open window. “But what is it that we know exactly?”

While Will buries his face in his hands, Max replies, “Mike and Will like each other, but Mike's being a dick about it.”

“No, Max,” Will mumbles. “Mike doesn't like me. He's in love with El.”

“Bullshit.”

“Oh, shit,” Lucas says. Everyone looks to him while he gapes through his binoculars. “El just fell down. I think something's wrong.”

“What?”

Shouts from the loading dock fill the air. Will squints towards it, but all he can see are shapes moving about.

Everyone barrels into the station wagon and speeds towards the loading dock. The car screeches to a halt, and they all rush out to El's side. She's lying on the ground, wincing and holding her leg. The bodies of Russian guards are scattered around them.“What happened?” Jonathan asks.

Mike struggles to help El to her feet. “There's something wrong with her leg.”

Jonathan gestures to the side door. “Get her inside.”

Steve and Mike hoist her up and carry her inside the building. Everyone follows behind them, but just as the door's about to shut, Will glances back out and notices the elevator door opening. A group of Russian soldiers storm out, spot Will and his friends, and march after them. Will yanks the door shut and races after the others. “Guys, guys, guys, they saw us!”

Robin pulls Will ahead by the sleeve. “What? Who?”

They all duck their heads as gunshots hit the side door.

“Shit!” Dustin waves his arms, motioning everyone to move faster. They tear into the food court, the Russian guards busting the side door open, and El stifles a cry.

“Everyone hide,” Dustin hisses, jumping behind a counter. Steve and Mike haul El into a dark hallway past the Sam Goody, the rest of them duck behind the counters of stores, and everyone falls silent as the Russian guards storm inside the food court.

Will finds himself squished between Nancy and Jonathan behind the Orange Julius counter. The footsteps of the guards draw closer. Holding his breath, Will hugs his knees to his chest and squeezes his eyes shut. He's hit with a feeling of d **é** ja-vu, remembering the moment a mere two nights ago when he and Lucas were both hiding behind a mall counter from a Russian guard.

He opens his eyes when someone nudges his side. Jonathan. His hand is stretched out in front of Will. With a smile, Will takes his hand and squeezes it. Turning to Nancy, whose jaw is trembling, Will offers her his other hand. She glances to him, smiles, and takes it. As the Russian guards speak into their walkie-talkies, Will closes his eyes and takes a slow breath out.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when a car alarm goes off nearby. He raises an eyebrow as he listens to what's going on on the other side of the counter. People start shouting and a crash echoes throughout the food court before the car alarm stops. He, Jonathan, and Nancy get to their feet, crouching as they peer above the counter. Scattered on the floor from one end of the food court to the other are the bodies of the dead Russian guards, and all the way at the end, a red car is flipped on its side against the wall. In front of the Sam Goody, El, Steve, and Mike stand staring at the dead guards, blood dripping down El's face. From behind one of the counters, Dustin jumps up and shouts, “You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!”

El smiles before collapsing to the ground.

Everyone rushes from their hiding spots to her side. Mike kneels beside her and squeezes her shoulder as she whimpers, “My leg, my leg.”

“Her leg, her leg, okay. Get that off,” Jonathan says. He and Nancy pull up her pant leg and unwrap the bandage. Her wound is swollen and bloody, almost inflamed. Will gags as something moves underneath her skin, and she lets out a strangled cry.

“El! El!” Mike shakes her shoulder, but she doesn't respond. Only cries louder. “El! El, are you okay? El! El! El!”

A scream erupts from her throat.

Erica peers at El's leg. “What _is_ that?”

“There's something in there.”

“No!” El screams.

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin murmurs.

“Keep her talking,” Jonathan says. “Keep her awake, okay?” He dashes across the food court and into one of the stores, leaving everyone else to try and comfort El. Her face is sweaty and bloody, and she struggles to hold in her screams.

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin murmurs again.

“Hey, hey, hey-” Mike holds El by her shoulder. “Stay awake, stay awake. Let's get her on this side, get her on this side.”

Dustin, Nancy, and Mike shift her around as Steve says, “Easy, easy, easy.”

Robin, gaping down at El, stutters, “It's, uh... You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a... the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and like, the whole bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane.”

Will, along with everyone else, eyes her.

“Robin,” Steve says.

“Yeah?”

“You're not helping.”

“I'm sorry.”

Jonathan races back to El with a knife in his hands. “Okay.” He kneels beside her. “All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?”

She nods through her tears. “Okay,” she sobs.

“Need you to stay real still.” He puts on kitchen gloves and hands El a wooden spoon. “Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?”

She takes the spoon and puts it between her mouth.

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin says. “Holy shit, holy shit.”

Glancing around at everyone, Jonathan holds the knife above her wound. Mike, clutching onto El, gives him a nod. “Do it.”

“Okay.” Taking a breath, he cuts into her skin. Her screams echo through the food court as she bites down hard on the spoon.

“Oh, shit,” Dustin says.

Jonathan sticks his hand into El's leg, digging his fingers under her flesh. Everyone winces and groans. El screams louder, whimpering. The insides of Will's stomach knot together, and he's sure he's about to throw up.

“Jonathan!” Nancy shouts.

“Stop talking!” He digs his fingers around in El's leg, trying to get to whatever is writhing around in there. “Goddamn it!”

“No!” El cries, spitting the spoon out of her mouth. “Stop it! Stop! Stop!” Waving her arm in the air, she sits up away from Mike. “I can do it. I can do it.”

Jonathan pulls his arm away. Panting, El aims her hand at her leg, her eyebrows knitting together as she concentrates. Her face scrunches up. “God! God!”

The thing in her leg struggles against her, squirming underneath her skin. Baring her teeth, she opens her mouth and screams. The glass in the store behind them shatters. Will ducks out of the way of the flying glass, knocking into Mike and stumbling over to Lucas.

On the floor, El rips the fleshy creature out of the wound in her leg, still screaming, and hurls it across the court where it lands on the tiles. It squirms about and starts moving away until a heavy boot comes down on top of it, crushing it. Will looks up to see the owner of the boot, Hopper, along with his mom and another man, standing and staring at them.


	42. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone reunites and catches up on what they know. Mike talks to Will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been supporting of this work! I can't thank you enough; it really means a lot to me! I hope everyone is doing well and keeping safe:)

Will runs to his mom and engulfs her in a hug which Jonathan joins a second later. “We thought you were in Illinois,” he says once they pull apart. “El saw you and Hopper going there.”

“Oh, yes – yes. We were. There was something we had to find out. ” Joyce squeezes his shoulders before her eyes narrow. “Sweetie, what happened to your neck?”

“Oh.” His hand moves to cover his bruises. “Nothing. I'm fine. I'll explain later.”

“Who did that to you?”

“No one, Mom. I said I'm fine. We can talk about it later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom.”

Behind them, Hopper helps El to her feet, and Mike takes her arm to steady her. Hopper looks around at the dead Russian guards and then at all the kids. “What happened here?”

Lucas huffs. “It's a long story.”

“We'd like to hear it.”

As Hopper and Mike help El to the fountain in the center of the food court, Will and Jonathan follow behind everyone else, sticking to their mom's side. “Who is that guy?” Jonathan gestures to the bearded man who arrived with Joyce and Hopper.

“That's Murray. He helped us figure out how to close the gate.”

Will raises his eyebrows. “The gate? You know about the gate?”

“Yes, and how to get to it.” Everyone gathers in a circle beside the fountain, Will staying as far away from Mike as possible.

“What do you mean you know how to close the gate?” Jonathan asks.

“The gate is underneath the mall,” Joyce explains, “and if we can get there, we can close it.”

“I'm getting the maps,” Murray says, turning around and marching out of the food court.

“So,” Nancy says, “does that mean Eleven doesn't have to close it herself? We can do it without her?”

“Yes,” Hopper says, “but not 'we.' You kids need to get as far away from this as possible right now.”

“Where are we supposed to go?” Max asks. “The Mind Flayer could be anywhere.”

Joyce's eyebrows shoot up. “I'm sorry, the Mind Flayer?” She grabs Will's hands. “It came back?”

Will looks to the others before meeting his mom's eyes. “Yes, but it's different than last time. It created a monster.”

“And that monster's still out there,” Mike jumps in. “That's why we came here. To escape it and close the gate.”

“Do you know why it came here?” Hopper asks.

“The Mind Flayer,” Mike explains, “it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world.

“And it almost did,” Nancy says. “That was just one tiny piece of it.”

“How big is this thing?” Hopper asks.

“It's big,” Jonathan says. “Thirty feet at least.”

“Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin.” Lucas makes a face. “Sorry.”

“Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?” Joyce asks.

“El beat the shit out of it,” Max says, “but, yeah, it's still alive.”

“But if we close the gate again-” Will says.

“We cut the brain off from the body.”

“And kill it,” Lucas says. “Theoretically.”

“Yoo-hoo!” Murray makes his way towards them, waving a handful of papers in the air. “Yoo-hoo!”

While Murray slams the papers down on a table and explains his plan, someone nudges Will's elbow. “Hey,” Mike says in a low voice, “can we talk?”

All Will can think of as he looks at Mike is their argument in the cabin and all the cruel words they flung at each other. Is Mike about to apologize to him? Finally? Glancing at the others who are listening to whatever Murray is rambling on about, Will nods and lets Mike drag him away from them and into one of the shops. “What is it?”

Mike faces him. “About what you heard in the store...”

He waits for Mike to continue, but Mike only stands there with his mouth opening and shutting. Rolling his eyes, Will snaps his fingers at Mike's face. “The store? What about it? Are you talking about what you said to El?”

“Yeah...” Mike shuffles his feet. “I think we should clear things up.”

“Clear things up?”

“We need to forget about what happened at the cabin. And what happened the night you destroyed Castle Byers. Pretend it never happened.”

A groan escapes Will's throat. Now he understands where this is going. “Can we just go back to the others and focus on the plan?”

“We need to talk about this.”

“Why? You've made yourself pretty clear.” He turns to leave, but Mike grabs his shoulder.

“Will...”

He scrunches his nose. “What, Mike?”

“Can't things just go back to the way they were before?”

“And how were things before? You with El, and me miserable? No offense, but I'd prefer if we accepted that things have changed and nothing's going back to the way it was before.” Again, he turns to leave, but Mike catches his arm, pulling him back.

“Knock it off!” Will snaps, yanking his arm away. The lights burn bright above their heads. Stunned, Mike staggers back with wide eyes. Will shakes his head. “Everything you're doing... you're driving me crazy. I don't know what to expect anymore. I don't know how you feel about anything.”

Mike meets Will's eyes. “You know how I feel about you.”

He throws his arms up. “Do I?”

“I don't want to hurt you.”

“It's too late, Mike.”

Mike frowns. “It's not too late. I'm sorry, I really am. Will, I didn't-”

“You already hurt me, don't you get that?” Will cries. “We keep fighting and then making up, but it's like you forget it all a second later. I'm sick of this back-and-forth bullshit. You act like you care about me one minute, but then you treat me like garbage the next.”

“What, are you taking pointers from Max now?”

The lights flicker above them, Will's body tense. “Are you even listening to me right now? Stop blaming Max for what you've done. This isn't about her, and this isn't about El. This is about you.”

“Why are you being this way?”

“Because I'm sick of your bullshit, Mike! I thought you understood before, but obviously I was wrong. You keep saying you don't want to hurt me, yet that's all you've been doing.”

“I can't help how I feel about El.”

“That's not the point!” Will throws his arms up, spinning around so he can take a deep breath. “I get that you love her, and I know I can't do anything about that. I'm happy if she's happy and if you are. I could have moved past it. I could have accepted it and moved on. But then you acted like you felt the same way about me. How am I supposed to feel about that? Why would you even do that in the first place?”

“Will, I-”

“I can't be your friend if all you're going to do is play games with me.”

“I won't, I swear,” Mike pleads.

“You already have.” Shaking his head, Will turns to leave yet again, but Mike grabs him by the arm and spins him back around.

“Will, we're best friends. We can't just not be best friends anymore.”

“Nothing lasts forever, Mike.”

“No, that's not true. We can work things out. We always do.” Mike moves to take Will's hand. “Will, we can still be friends.”

Will jerks away, glaring. “Why won't you listen to me? I don't want to be friends with you anymore!”

Mike's face drops. “That's not true.”

The lights buzz. Will crosses his arms.

“Come on, Will. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

Will scoffs. “Don't be stupid. I'm not going to fall for this again. If I was the best thing that's happened to you, you wouldn't have done this in the first place.” He starts to leave again, but this time he turns without Mike's influence. “You know what? You were right. I did keep getting angry at you, and I was jealous about you and El being together. So, I am sorry about that. I'm sorry about everything I did to hurt you. I know I was being stupid and jealous, and I was angry about things I knew I could never change. I was selfish and didn't take your feelings into account. That's on me; I understand that.” He shakes his head, scrunching up his nose. “But everything else? The uncertainty of all this? Those things you said that you know hurt me? Acting like I'm the only one who's a freak even though you _know_ that's not true? That's on you.” He leaves without another word.


End file.
